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tHE  EXPOSITOR'S  BIBLE.     Edited  by  b«t. 
^-  Ji.  NicoLii,  D.D.,   Editor  of  London  ExpoBf-v. 

1  ST  Series  in  6  Vols. 

IVIAOIiA.KBir,  Rev.  Al«x.— C0L0SSIAN8— PECttEdOH. 
DODS,  Rev.  Marcus.— GENESIS. 

OHADiriCK,  Rev.  Dean ST.  MARK.  jk'^ 

BLAIEJCE,  Rev.  W.  S.— SAMUEL,  2  Volb.  SI  J 

KI^ WARDS,  Rev.  T.  C— HEBREWS.  *  g- • 

2d  Series  IN  6  Vols.  «£.•■ 

SiAITH,  Rev.  G.  A.— ISAIAH,  .Vol;  I.  •   .= 

AI'EXAVDBR,  Bishop.— EPISTLES  OF  ST.  JOHN.  •  JS  g 

PIiUniM£R,  Rev.  A.— PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  E  o  S 

FINDIjAY,  Rev.  O.  G GALATIA.N8.  5  o.  e 

MILUGAN,  Rer.  W — REVELATION.  S  |3  ® 

DODS,  Fev.  Marcus — 1st  CORINTHIANS.  2i  ».c 

,                  3d  Series  in  6  Vols.  *'°  S 

SMITH,  Rev.  G.  A — ISAIAH,  Vol.  n.  Sea 

GIBSON,  Rev.  J.  M — ST.  MATTHEW.  t  S  a 

WATSON,  Rev.  R.  A.— JUDGES— RUTH.        r  8       g 

BALL,  Rev.  C.  J.— JEREMIAH.    Chap  I-XX.  t  5  "S 

CHADWICK,  Rev.  Dean.— EXODUf  5  _  «, 

BURTON,  Rev.  H.— ST.  LUKE.  •  ^  = 

4TH'SERtES  IN  6  Vols.  o«  — 

KELLOGG,  Rev.  S.  H.— LEVITICUS  T.  S  S. 

STOKES,  Rev.  G.  T.— ACTS,  Vol.  I.  S  =  S 

HOKTON,  Rev.  R.  F.— PROVERBS.  «_  »  ^^ 

DODS,  Rev.  Marcus.— GOSPEL  ST.  JOHN,  Vou  I.  ^  -, 

PLUMMER,  Rev.  A — JAMES-JUDE,  ^  S  ti 

COX.  Rev.  S.— ECCLESIASTES.  E  "S  « 

5th  Series  in  6  Vols.  -|  •>  » 

DENNEY,  Rev,  J.— THESSALONIANS.  >  •=  o. 

WATSON,  Rev.  R.  A — JOB.  J=  2    • 

tKACLAREN,  Rev.  A.-PSALMS,  Vol.  I.  «  "  O 

STOKES,  Rev.  G.  T.— ACTS,  Vol  II.  •  £  lO 

DODS,  nev.  Marcus — GOSPEL  ST  JOHN,  Vou  H.  £  c  J 

nHDIiAy.  Rev.  C.  G.— EPHESIANS.  •»  Z  JI 

6th  Series  in  6  Vols.  I"  "  «j 

B  A.IWE,  Kev.  R PHILIPPIANS.  a.  W  o 

FABKAB,  Archd**acon  F.  W^.— 1st  KINGS  O  S  * 

BLAIKIE,  Rev.  W.  G — JOSHUA.  2  ""  -2 

MA  CLABEN,  Rev.  A — PSALMS,  Vol.  H.  "*  2  2 

LUMBY,  Rev.  J.  B — EPISTLES  OF  ST.  PETER.  a  .g  S 
AI*Bi«EY,Bev.W.F.— EZRA— NEHEMIAH-ESTHER.  Jg  |  J" 

'  7th  Series  in  6  Vols. 

MOIjLE,  Rev.  H.  C.G.— ROMANS. 
FARRAR,  Archdeacon  F.  W^.— 2d  KINGS. 
BENNETT,  Rev.  W.  H.— 1st  and  2d  CHROOTCLES- 
MAOtAREN,  Rev.  A — PSALMS,  Vol.  m. 
fJENNEY,  Rev.  James.— 2d  CORINTHIANS. 
W  VTSON.  Rev.  R.  A.— NUMBERS. 

8th  and  Final  Series  in  7  Vol«- 

FARRAR,  Archdeacon  F.  W.— DANIEL. 

SKINNER,  Rev.  John — EZEKIEL. 

BENNETT,  Rev.  W.  H — JEREMIAH. 

HARPER,  Rev.  Prof.— DEUTERONOMY. 

ADENEY,  Rev.  W.  F.— SOLOMON  AND  LAMENTATIOW-' 

BMITH,  Bev.  G.  A.~THE  MINOR  PROPHETS,  3  Vow 


V 


\v 


(/^ 


NOV 


1952 


/i 


^er 


^ 


THE 


GOSPEL    OF    ST.    JOHN, 


/' 


MARCUS     DODS,    D.D.. 

KOVKMOK  Ot  EXXGETICAL  THEOLOGY,  NKW  COLLEGE,  EDINBUS 


In  Two  Voluhul 
VOL.  /. 


NEW  YORK 

A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  AND  SON 

3  and  5  West  Eighteenth  Street 


CONTENTS. 


Introductory  Notk  ••••••«iix 


CHAPTER   I 
The  Incarnaiion       •       .       t        •       •       •       c       •       3 

CHAPTER    II. 
Reception  Christ  met  with    .       .       •       •        ,       »      ai 

CHAPTER   IIL 
The  Baptist's  Testimony.        •<••«.      3S 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  First  Disciples.        .       .       .       •       «       •       •      55 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  First  Sign — The  Marriage  in  Cana     «       •       •      69 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Cleansing  of  the  Temple       •       •       i       ■       •      87 

CHAPTER  VII. 

NicoDKiiuf«.      , ;     ;      ,   foi 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

rAGi 

The  Brazen  Serpent        .       .       •       •       .       •       .119 


CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Woman  op  Samaria  ...»•••    131 

CHAPTER  X. 
Jesus  declares  Himself  ...••••    147 

CHAPTER  XL 
The  Second  Sign  in  Galilee  .       .       .       •       •       ,161 

CHAPTER  XIL 
Sabbath  Cure  at  Bethesda    ..••••    177 

CHAPTER  XIIL 
Jesus  Life-Giver  and  Judge   ..••••    193 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Jesus  the  Bread  of  Life         ..••••    309 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Crisis  in  Galilee      ...••••    235 

CHAPTER  XVL 
Jesus  discussed  in  Jerusalem         .       •       •       •       •    243 

CHAPTER  XVIL 
Thi  Woman  taken  in  Adultery    .       •       «       ,       .    359 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Christ  the  Light  of  thk  World  .       •       •       •       •    173 


CHAPTER  XIZ. 
Jesus  rejected  im  Jerusalem  .•,.••    S89 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Sight  given  to  the  Blind •    305 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Jesus  the  Good  Shepherd      .       .       ,       •       •       •    321 

CHAPTER  XXIL 
Jesus,  Son  of  God •       «       .    337 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Jesus  the  Resurrection  and  Life        •       «       •       •    35S 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Jesus  the  Scapegoat        .       .       .       ,       «       •       .371 


Mote  «f  Chap.  VL,  Vers.  37>  44i  45      •       .       •       •1*7 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 

IN  order  to  read  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  with  some 
intelligence,  it  is  necessary  to  understand  its 
purpose  and  its  plan.  For  in  the  whole  range  of 
literature  there  is  no  composition  which  is  a  more 
perfect  work  of  art,  or  which  more  rigidly  excludes 
whatever  does  not  subserve  its  main  end.  From  the 
first  word  to  the  last  there  is  no  paragraph,  sentence, 
or  expression  which  is  out  of  its  place,  or  with  which 
we  could  dispense.  Part  hangs  together  with  part  in 
perfect  balance.  The  sequence  may  at  times  be  obscure, 
but  sequence  there  always  is.  The  relevancy  of  this 
or  that  remark  may  not  at  first  sight  be  apparent,  but 
irrelevancy  is  impossible  to  this  writer. 

The  object  which  the  Evangelist  had  in  view  in 
writing  this  Gospel  we  are  not  left  to  find  out  for 
ourselves.  He  explicitly  says  that  his  purpose  in 
writing  was  to  promote  the  belief  that  "Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God"  (chap.  xx.  31).  This  purpose, 
he  judges,  he  will  best  accomplish,  not  by  writing  an 
essay,  nor  by  framing  an  abstract  argument  in  advocacy 
of  the  claims  of  Jesus,  but  by  reproducing  in  his  Gospel 
those  manifestations  of  His  glory  which  elicited  faith 
in  the  first  disciples  and  in  others.     That  which  had 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE, 


produced  faith  in  his  own  case  and  in  that  of  his  fellow- 
disciples,  will,  he  thinks,  if  fairly  set  before  men, 
produce  faith  in  them  also.  He  relates,  therefore,  with 
the  utmost  simplicity  of  language,  the  scenes  in  which 
Jesus  seemed  to  him  most  significantly  to  have  revealed 
His  power  and  His  goodness,  and  most  forcibly  to  have 
demonstrated  that  the  Father  was  in  Him.  At  the 
same  time  he  keeps  steadily  in  view  the  circumstance 
that  these  manifestations  had  not  always  produced 
faith,  but  that  alongside  of  a  growing  faith  there  ran 
an  increasing  unbelief  which  at  length  assumed  the 
form  of  hostility  and  outrage.  This  unbelief  he  feels 
called  upon  to  account  for.  He  feels  called  upon  to 
demonstrate  that  its  true  reason  lay,  not  in  the  inade- 
quacy of  Christ's  manifestations,  but  in  the  unreasonable 
and  unspiritual  requirements  of  the  unbelieving,  and 
in  their  alienation  from  God.  The  Gospel  thus  forms 
the  primary  apologetic,  which  by  its  very  simplicity  and 
closeness  to  reality  touches  at  every  point  the  under- 
lying causes  and  principles  of  faith  and  unbelief. 

The  object  of  the  Gospel  being  kept  in  view,  the 
plan  is  at  once  perceived.  Apart  from  the  Prologue 
(chap.  L  l-i8)  and  the  Appendix  (chap,  xxi.),  the  body 
of  the  work  falls  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  chaps,  i. 
19-xii.,  and  xiii.-xx.  In  the  former  part  the  Evangelist 
relates,  with  a  singular  felicity  of  selection,  the  scenes  in 
which  Jesus  made  those  self-revelations  which  it  was 
most  important  that  men  should  understand,  and  the 
discussions  in  which  their  full  significance  was  brought 
put.     Thus  he   shows  how  the  glory  of  Christ  was 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


manifested  at  the  marriage  in  Cana,  in  the  cleansing 
of  the  Temple,  in  the  conversation  with  the  Samaritans, 
in  the  healing  of  the  impotent  man,  in  the  feeding  of 
the  five  thousand,  in  the  cure  of  the  man  born  blind  ; 
and  how,  through  these  various  signs  or  object-lessons, 
Jesus  makes  Himself  known  as  the  Life,  the  Light, 
the  Judge  of  men,  or,  in  one  word,  as  the  Son  doing 
the  Father's  works,  manifesting  the  Father's  presence, 
disclosing  in  His  various  words  and  deeds  "  the  glory 
as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and 
truth." 

These  manifestations  culminate  in  the  raising  of 
Lazarus,  recorded  in  the  eleventh  chapter.  This  final 
sign,  while  in  "  many  of  the  Jews  "  (xi.  45)  it  produced 
faith,  aggravated  at  the  same  time  the  unbelief  of  the 
authorities,  who  "  from  that  day  forth  took  counsel 
together  for  to  put  Him  to  death"  (xi.  53).  The  twelfth 
chapter,  therefore,  holds  a  place  by  itself.  In  it  we 
have  three  incidents  related,  and  all  related  for  the 
same  purpose,  namely,  to  demonstrate  that  there  was 
now  no  further  need  of  such  manifestations  of  the  glory 
of  Jesus  as  had  already  been  given,  and  that  all  things 
were  now  ripe  for  the  catastrophe.  The  incidents  in 
which  this  became  apparent  were  Mary's  anointing  of 
Jesus,  His  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem,  and  the 
enquiry  of  the  Greeks.  By  introducing  these  three 
incidents  together  at  this  point,  John  wishes  to  show 
(i)  that  Jesus  was  now  embalmed  in  the  love  of  His 
intimate  friends,  (2)  that  He  had  found  in  the  untutored 
instincts  of  the  people  a  response  to  His  claim,  and 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


(3)  that  even  in  the  still  wider  circle  of  the  outlying 
nations  His  name  was  known.  He  may,  therefore, 
now  safely  finish  His  self-revelation.  It  has  done 
its  work.  And  the  completeness  of  its  result  is  seen, 
not  only  in  this  widely-extended  impression  and  firmly- 
rooted  attachment,  but  also  in  the  maturity  of  unbelief 
which  now  took  active  steps  to  take  Jesus  and  put 
Him  to  death. 

This  part  of  the  Gospel  therefore  appropriately 
closes  with  the  words  :  "  These  things  spake  Jesus  and 
departed,  and  did  hide  Himself  from  them"  (xii.  36). 
The  public  manifestation  of  Jesus  is  closed. 

Between  the  first  and  the  second  part  of  the  Gospel 
there  is  interposed  a  paragraph  (xii.  37-50),  in  which 
John  briefly  points  out  that  the  rejection  of  Jesus  by 
the  Jews  was  no  more  than  had  been  predicted  by  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  and  that  it  reflects  no  suspicion  on  the 
manifestations  of  His  relation  to  the  Father  which 
Jesus  had  made.  He  then  sums  up  in  one  or  two 
sentences  the  significance  and  consequences  of  receiving 
and  of  rejecting  Jesus. 

In  the  second  part  of  the  Gospel  the  writer  is  still 
guided  by  the  same  purpose  of  showing  how  Jesus 
manifested  His  glory.  This  is  obvious  not  merely 
from  the  contents  of  this  second  part,  but  also  from 
the  fact  that  in  the  language  of  John  the  death  of  Jesus 
is  constantly  referred  to  as  His  glorification,  being  the 
"  lifting  up  "  which  was  an  essential  step  to,  or  part  of. 
His  glorification.  Before  entering  upon  the  last  scenes, 
which  are  described  in  chaps.  ziiL-xiz.,  Jesus  is  assured 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE.  aiH 

that  in  His  death  the  Father  is  to  glorify  His  Name 
(xii.  28) ;  and  in  the  prayer  recorded  in  the  seventeenth 
chapter,  which  closes  the  explanations  which  our  Lord 
Himself  made  of  His  work,  it  is  still  the  manifestation 
of  His  glory  that  is  in  His  thoughts.  The  character- 
istic which  distinguishes  this  second  part  of  the  Gospel 
is,  that  Jesus  no  longer  manifests  His  glory  to  the 
people  in  signs  of  manifest  power,  but  now,  in  chapters 
xiiL-xvii.,  further  discloses  His  glory  privately  to  the 
Twelve ;  and  in  chapters  xviii.  and  xix.  passes  triumph- 
antly through  the  ultimate  trial  which  still  lay  between 
Him  and  the  final  consummation  of  His  glory.  That 
this  final  glory  has  been  achieved  is  witnessed  by  the 
Resurrection,  the  record  of  which,  and  of  its  results  in 
faith,  occupies  the  twentieth  chapter.  De  Wette  has  the 
credit  of  being  the  first  to  discern  that  the  entire  Gospel 
is  held  together  by  this  idea  of  the  manifestation  of 
Christ's  glory,  and  that  "  the  glory  of  our  Lord  appears 
in  all  its  brightness  in  the  second  part  of  the  narrative 
(xiii.-xx.),  and  that  (a)  inwardly  and  morally  in  His 
sufferings  and  death  (xiii.-xix.),  and  (A)  outwardly  and  . 
sensibly,  in  the  triumphant  event  of  the  Resurrection." 
The  best  tabulated  division  of  the  Gospel  with 
which  I  am  acquainted  is  that  which  the  Rev.  A. 
Halliday  Douglas,  M.A.,  of  Huntly,  has  printed  for 
private  circulation.  By  the  kindness  of  the  author  I 
am  allowed  to  publish  it  here. 


THE  DIVISIONS  OF  ST.  JOHN'S   GOSPEL. 

The  Prologue  or  Introduction.    Chap.  i.  1-18. 

Part  I.   The  Manifestation  of  Christ's  Glory  in  Life 
and  Power.    Chap.  i.  ig-xii.  36. 

I.  Christ's  Announcement  of  Himself,  and  the  Beginnings 

of  Faith  and  Unbelief.     Chap.  i.  19-iv. 
a.  The  Period  of  Conflict.    Chap,  v.-xii.  36. 

The  Evangelist's  Pause  for  Reflection,  and  Review 
of  Christ's  Teaching.    Chaps,  xii.  36-50. 

Part   II.     The  Manifestation  of  Chrisfs   Glory    in 
Suffering  and  Death.    Chaps,  xiii.-xx. 

I.  Moral  Victory  in  Suffering  : — 

a.  In  Anticipation.  Chaps,  xiii.-xvii.  \_Faith  finally 
settled  in  the  disciples,  and  unbelief  ca.st  out  from 
among  them.] 

b.  In  the  Actual  Struggle.  Chaps,  xviii.,  xix.  [Un- 
belief apparently  victorious,  faith  scarcely  saved.] 

a.  Actual  Victory  over  Death.     Chap.  xx.    [Faith  proved 
right,  and  unbelief  condemned.] 

The  Epilogue  ok.  Appendix.    Chap.  zzi. 


I. 

THE  iNCARMATIOm, 


"  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and 
the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All 
things  were  made  by  Him  ;  and  without  Him  was  not  any  thing  made 
that  hath  been  made.  In  Him  was  life  ;  and  the  life  was  the  light  of 
men.  And  the  light  shineth  in  the  darkness  ;  and  the  darkness 
apprehended  it  not.  There  came  a  man,  sent  from  God,  whose  name 
was  John.  The  same  came  for  witness,  that  he  might  bear  witness  of 
the  light,  that  all  might  believe  through  him.  He  was  not  the  light, 
but  came  that  he  might  bear  witness  of  the  light.  There  was  the  true 
light,  even  the  light  which  lighteth  every  man,  coming  into  the  world. 
He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by  Him,  and  the  world 
knew  Him  not.  He  came  unto  His  own,  and  they  that  were  His  own 
received  Him  not.  But  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  the 
right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  His 
name :  which  were  bom,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor 
of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.  And  the  Word  became  flesh,  and 
dwelt  among  us  (and  we  beheld  His  glory,  glory  as  of  the  only  be- 
gotten from  the  Father),  full  of  grace  and  truth.  John  beareth  witness 
of  Him,  and  crieth,  saying,  This  was  He  of  whom  I  said,  He  that 
Cometh  after  me  is  preferred  before  me  :  for  He  was  before  me.  For  of 
His  fulness  we  all  received,  and  grace  for  grace.  For  the  law  was 
given  by  Moses  ;  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ.  No  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom 
«l  the  Father,  He  hath  declared  Him."— John  L  1-18. 


I. 

THE  INCARNATION, 

IN  this  brief  introduction  to  his  Gospel  John  sum' 
manses  its  contents,  and  presents  an  abstract  of  the 
history  he  is  about  to  relate  in  detail.  That  the  Eternal 
Word,  in  whom  was  the  life  of  all  things,  became  flesh 
and  was  manifested  among  men  ;  that  some  ignored 
while  others  recognised  Him,  that  some  received  while 
others  rejected  Him, — this  is  what  John  desires  to 
exhibit  at  large  in  his  Gospel,  and  this  is  what  he 
summarily  states  in  this  compact  and  pregnant  intro- 
ductory passage.  He  briefly  describes  a  Being  whom 
he  names  "  The  Word  ; "  he  explains  the  connection  of 
this  Being  with  God  and  with  created  things ;  he  tells 
how  He  came  to  the  world  and  dwelt  among  men,  and 
he  remarks  upon  the  reception  He  met  with.  What,  is 
summed  up  in  these  propositions  is  unfolded  in  the 
Gospel.  It  narrates  in  detail  the  history  of  the  mani- 
festation of  the  Incarnate  Word,  and  of  the  faith  and 
unbelief  which  this  manifestation  evoked. 

John  at  once  introduces  us  to  a  Being  whom  he 
speaks  of  as  "  The  Word."  He  uses  the  term  without 
apology,  as  if  already  it  were  familiar  to  his  readers  ; 
and  yet  he  adds  a  brief  description  of  it,  as  if  possibly 
they  might  attach  to  it  ideas  incompatible  with  his 
own.  He  uses  it  without  apology,  because  in  point  of 
fact  it  already  had  circulation  both  among  Greek  and 

3 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


Jewish  thinkers.  In  the  Old  Testament  we  meet  with 
a  Being  called  "The  Angel  of  the  Lord,"  who  is  at 
once  closely  related,  if  not  equivalent,  to  Jehovah,  and 
at  the  same  time  manifested  to  men.  Thus  when  the 
Angel  of  the  Lord  had  appeared  to  Jacob  and  wrestled 
with  him,  Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place  Peniel, 
for,  said  he,  "  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face."  *  In  the 
apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament  the  Wisdom 
and  the  Word  of  God  are  poetically  personified,  and 
occupy  the  same  relation  to  God  on  the  one  hand,  and 
to  man  on  the  other,  which  was  filled  by  the  Angel  of 
the  Lord.  And  in  the  time  of  Christ  "  the  Word  of 
the  Lord"  had  become  the  current  designation  by 
which  Jewish  teachers  denoted  the  manifested  Jehovah. 
In  explaining  the  Scriptures,  to  make  them  more  in- 
telligible to  the  people,  it  was  customary  to  substitute 
for  the  name  of  the  infinitely  exalted  Jehovah  the 
name  of  Jehovah's  manifestation,  "  the  Word  of  the 
Lord." 

Beyond  Jewish  circles  of  thought  the  expression 
would  also  be  readily  understood.  For  not  among  the 
Jews  only,  but  everywhere,  men  have  keenly  felt  the 
difficulty  of  arriving  at  any  certain  and  definite  know- 
ledge of  the  Eternal  One.  The  most  rudimentary 
definition  of  God,  by  declaring  Him  to  be  a  Spirit,  at 
once  and  for  ever  dissipates  the  hope  that  we  can  ever 
see  Him,  as  we  see  one  another,  with  the  bodily  eye. 
This  depresses  and  disturbs  the  soul.  Other  objects 
which  invite  our  thought  and  feeling  we  easily  appre- 
hend, and  our  intercourse  with  them  is  level  to  our 
faculties.     It  is,  indeed,  the  unseen  and  intangible  spirit 


*  See  also  Gen.    xvl    13,    xviii.  33;    Ezod.   iii.  6,    zzilL   ao; 
Judges  sdii.  33. 


i.T.i8.]  THE  INCARNATION.  S 

of  our  friends  which  we  value,  not  the  outward  appear- 
ance. But  we  scarcely  separate  the  two ;  and  as  we 
reach  and  know  and  enjoy  our  friends  through  the 
bodily  features  with  which  we  are  familiar,  and  the 
words  that  strike  upon  our  ear,  we  instinctively  long 
for  intercourse  with  God  and  knowledge  of  Him  as 
familiar  and  convincing.  We  put  out  our  hand,  but  we 
cannot  touch  Him.  Nowhere  in  this  world  can  we  see 
Him  more  than  we  see  Him  here  and  now.  If  we  pass 
to  other  worlds,  there,  too,  He  is  concealed  from  our 
sight,  inhabiting  no  body,  occupying  no  place.  Job  is 
not  alone  in  his  painful  and  baffling  search  after  God. 
Thousands  continually  cry  with  him,  "  Behold,  I  go 
forward,  but  He  is  not  there;  and  backward,  but  I 
cannot  perceive  Him  :  on  the  left  hand,  where  He  doth 
work,  but  I  cannot  behold  Him  :  He  hideth  Himself  on 
the  right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see  Him." 

In  various  ways,  accordingly,  men  have  striven  to 
alleviate  the  difficulty  of  mentally  apprehending  an 
invisible,  infinite,  incomprehensible  God.  One  theory, 
struck  out  by  the  pressure  of  the  difficulty,  and  fre- 
quently advanced,  was  not  altogether  incompatible  with 
the  ideas  suggested  by  John  in  this  prologue.  This 
theory  was  accustomed,  although  with  no  great  definite- 
ness  or  security,  to  bridge  the  chasm  between  the 
Eternal  God  and  His  works  in  time  by  interposing 
some  middle  being  or  beings  which  might  mediate 
between  the  known  and  the  unknown.  This  link 
between  God  and  His  creatures,  which  seemed  to 
make  God  and  His  relation  to  material  things  more 
intelligible,  was  sometimes  spoken  of  as  "The  Word 
of  God."  This  seemed  an  appropriate  name  by  which 
to  designate  that  through  which  God  made  Himself 
known,  and  by  which   He  came   into   relations   witl? 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 


things  and  persons  not  Himself.  Vague  indeed  was 
the  conception  formed  even  of  this  intermediary  Being. 
But  of  this  term  "the  Word,"  and  of  the  ideas  that 
centred  in  it,  John  took  advantage  to  proclaim  Him 
who  is  the  manifestation  of  the  Eternal,  the  Image  of 
the  Invisible.^ 

The  title  itself  is  full  of  significance.  The  word  of 
a  man  is  that  by  which  he  utters  himself,  by  which 
he  puts  himself  in  communication  with  other  persons 
and  deals  with  them.  By  his  word  he  makes  his 
thought  and  feeling  known,  and  by  his  word  he  issues 
commands  and  gives  effect  to  his  will.  His  word  is 
distinct  from  his  thought,  and  yet  cannot  exist  separate 
from  it.  Proceeding  from  the  thought  and  will,  from 
that  which  is  inmost  in  us  and  most  ourselves,  it  carries 
upon  itself  the  imprint  of  the  character  and  purpose  of 
him  who  utters  it.  It  is  the  organ  of  intelligence  and 
will.  It  is  not  mere  noise,  it  is  sound  instinct  with 
mind,  and  articulated  by  intelligent  purpose.  By  a 
man's  word  you  could  perfectly  know  him,  even  though 
you  were  blind  and  could  never  see  him.  Sight  or 
touch  could  give  you  but  little  fuller  information  regard- 
ing his  character  if  you  had  listened  to  his  word.  His 
word  IS  his  character  in  expression. 

'  For  the  need  of  intermediaries,  see  Plato,  Symposium,  pp.  202-3  '• 
"  God  mingles  not  with  men  ;  but  there  are  spiritual  powers  which 
interpret  and  convey  to  God  the  prayers  and  sacrifices  of  men,  and  to 
men  the  commands  and  rewards  of  God.  These  powers  span  the 
chasm  which  divides  them,  and  these  spirits  or  intermediate  powers  are 
many  and  divine."  See  also  Philo  (^Quod  Deus  Immut.^  xiii.) :  "  God 
is  ttot  comprehensible  by  the  intellect.  We  know,  indeed,  that  He  is, 
but  beyond  the  fact  of  His  existence  we  know  nothing."  The  Word 
reveals  God ;  see  Philo  {De  post.  Caini,  vi.),  "  The  wise  man,  longing 
to  apprehend  God,  and  travelling  along  the  path  of  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge, first  of  all  meets  with  the  Divine  words,  and  with  them  abides  M 
•  guest." 


i.i-l8.]  THE  INCARNATION.  J 

Similarly,  the  Word  of  God  is  God's  power,  intel- 
ligence, and  will  in  expression ;  not  dormant  and 
potential  only,  but  in  active  exercise.  God's  Word  is 
His  will  going  forth  with  creative  energy,  and  com- 
municating life  from  God,  the  Source  of  life  and  being. 
"Without  Him  was  not  any  thing  made  that  was 
made."  He  was  prior  to  all  created  things  and  Him- 
self with  God,  and  God.  He  is  God  coming  into 
relation  with  other  things,  revealing  Himself,  manifest- 
ing Himself,  communicating  Himself.  The  world  is 
not  itself  God;  things  created  are  not  God,  but  the 
intelligence  and  will  that  brought  them  into  being,  and 
which  now  sustain  and  regulate  them,  these  are  God. 
And  between  the  works  we  see  and  the  God  who  is 
past  finding  out,  there  is  the  Word,  One  who  from 
eternity  has  been  with  God,  the  medium  of  the  first 
utterance  of  God's  mind  and  the  first  forthputting  of 
His  power  ;  as  close  to  the  inmost  nature  of  God,  and 
as  truly  uttering  that  nature,  as  our  word  is  close  to 
and  utters  our  thought,  capable  of  being  used  by  no  one 
besides,  but  by  ourselves  only. 

It  is  apparent,  then,  why  John  chooses  this  title  to 
designate  Christ  in  His  pre-existent  life.  No  other  title 
brings  out  so  clearly  the  identification  of  Christ  with 
God,  and  the  function  of  Christ  to  reveal  God.  It  was 
a  term  which  made  the  transition  easy  from  Jewish 
Monotheism  to  Christian  Trinitarianism.  Being  already 
used  by  the  strictest  Monotheists  to  denote  a  spiritual 
intermediary  between  God  and  the  world,  it  is  chosen 
by  John  as  the  appropriate  title  of  Him  through  whom 
all  revelation  of  God  in  the  past  has  been  mediated, 
and  who  has  at  length  finished  revelation  in  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ.  The  term  itself  does  not  explicitly 
affirm  personality  ;  but  what  it  helps  us  to  understand 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


is,  that  this  same  Being,  the  Word,  who  manifested  and 
uttered  God  in  creation,  reveals  Him  now  in  humanity 
John  wishes  to  bring  the  incarnation  and  the  new 
spiritual  world  it  produced  into  line  with  the  creation 
and  God's  original  purpose  therein.  He  wishes  to 
show  us  that  this  greatest  manifestation  of  God  is  not 
an  abrupt  departure  from  previous  methods,  but  is  the 
culminating  expression  of  methods  and  principles  which 
have  ever  governed  the  activity  of  God.  Jesus  Christ, 
who  reveals  the  Father  now  in  human  nature,  is  the 
^ame  Agent  as  has  ever  been  expressing  and  giving 
effect  to  the  Father's  will  in  the  creation  and  govern- 
ment of  all  things.  The  same  Word  who  now  utters 
God  in  and  through  human  nature,  has  ever  been 
uttering  Him  in  all  His  works. 

All  that  God  has  done  is  to  be  found  in  the  universe, 
partly  visible  and  partly  known  to  us.  There  God 
may  be  found,  because  there  He  has  uttered  Himself. 
But  science  tells  us  that  in  this  universe  there  has  been 
a  gradual  development  from  lower  to  higher,  from  im- 
perfect towards  perfect  worlds;  and  it  tells  us  that 
man  is  the  last  result  of  this  process.  In  man  the 
creature  at  last  becomes  intelligent,  self-conscious, 
endowed  with  will,  capable  to  some  extent  of  meeting 
and  understanding  its  Creator.  Man  is  the  last  and 
fullest  expression  of  God's  thought,  for  in  man  and 
man's  history  God  finds  room  for  the  utterance  not 
merely  of  His  wisdom  and  power,  but  of  what  is  most 
profoundly  spiritual  and  moral  in  His  nature.  In  man 
God  finds  a  creature  who  can  sympathise  with  His 
purposes,  who  can  respond  to  His  love,  who  can  give 
exercise  to  the  whole  fulness  of  God. 

But  in  saying  that  "  the  Word  became  flesh  "  John 
says  much   more   than  that   God  through   the  Word 


ti-i8.]  THE  INCARNATION.  f 

created  man,  and  found  thus  a  more  perfect  means 
of  revealing  Himself  The  Word  created  the  visible 
world,  but  He  did  not  become  the  visible  world.  The 
Word  created  all  men,  but  He  did  not  become  the 
human  race,  but  one  Man,  Christ  Jesus.  No  doubt  it 
is  true  that  all  men  in  their  measure  reveal  God,  and 
it  is  conceivable  that  some  individual  should  fully 
illustrate  all  that  God  meant  to  reveal  by  human 
nature.  It  is  conceivable  that  God  should  so  sway 
a  man's  will  and  purify  his  character  that  the  human 
will  should  be  from  first  to  last  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  Divine,  and  that  the  human  character  should 
exhibit  the  character  of  God.  An  ideal  man  might 
have  been  created,  God's  ideal  of  man  might  have 
been  realized,  and  still  we  should  have  had  no  incarna- 
tion. For  a  perfect  man  is  not  all  we  have  in  Christ. 
A  perfect  man  is  one  thing,  the  Word  Incarnate  is 
another.  In  the  one  the  personality,  the  "  I "  that 
uses  the  human  nature,  is  human ;  in  the  other,  the 
personality,  the  "  I,"  is  Divine. 

By  becoming  flesh  the  Word  submitted  to  certain 
limitations,  perhaps  impossible  for  us  to  define.  While 
in  the  flesh  He  could  reveal  only  what  human  nature. 
was  competent  to  reveal.  But  as  the  human  nature 
had  been  created  in  the  likeness  of  the  Divine,  and  as, 
therefore,  "  good  "  and  "  evil "  meant  the  same  to  man 
as  to  God,  the  limitation  would  not  be  felt  in  the  region 
of  character. 

The  process  of  the  Incarnation  John  describes  very 
simply :  "  The  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
us."  The  Word  did  not  become  flesh  in  the  sense 
that  He  was  turned  into  flesh,  ceasing  to  be  what  He 
had  previously  been,  as  a  boy  who  becomes  a  man 
ceases  to  be  a  boy.     In  addition  to  what  He  already 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


was  He  assumed  human  nature,  at  once  enlarging  His 
experience  and  limiting  His  present  manifestations 
of  Divinity  to  what  was  congruous  to  human  nature 
and  earthly  circumstance.  The  Jews  were  familiar 
with  the  idea  of  God  "dwelling"  with  His  people.  At 
the  birth  of  their  nation,  while  they  were  still  dwelling 
in  tents  outside  the  land  of  promise,  God  had  His  tent 
among  the  shifting  tents  of  the  people,  sharing  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  their  wandering  life,  abiding  with  them 
even  in  their  thirty-eight  years'  exclusion  from  their 
land,  and  thus  sharing  even  their  punishment.  By  the 
word  John  here  uses  he  links  the  bod}'  of  Christ  to  the 
ancient  dwelling  of  God  round  which  the  tents  of  Israel 
had  clustered.  God  now  dwelt  among  men  in  the 
humanity  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  tabernacle  was  human, 
the  indwelling  Person  was  Divine.  In  Christ  is  realized 
the  actual  presence  of  God  among  His  people,  the 
actual  entrance  into  and  personal  participation  in 
human  history,  which  was  hinted  at  in  the  tabernacle 
and  the  temple. 

In  the  Incarnation,  then,  we  have  God's  response 
to  man's  craving  to  find,  to  see,  to  know  Him.  Men, 
indeed,  commonly  look  past  Christ  and  away  from  Him, 
as  if  in  Him  God  could  not  be  satisfactorily  seen ;  they 
discontentedly  long  for  some  other  revelation  of  the 
unseen  Spirit.  But  surely  this  is  to  mistake.  To 
suppose  that  God  might  make  Himself  more  obvious, 
more  distinctly  apparent  to  us,  than  He  has  done,  is 
to  mistake  what  God  is  and  how  we  can  know  Him. 
What  are  the  highest  attributes  of  Divinity,  the  most 
Divine  characteristics  of  God  ?  Are  they  great  power, 
vast  size,  dazzling  physical  glory  that  overpowers  the 
sense ;  or  are  they  infinite  goodness,  holiness  that  can- 
not be  tempted,  love  that  accommodates  itself  to  all  the 


i.l-i8.]  THE  INCARNATION.  ti 

needs  of  all  creatures  ?  Surely  the  latter,  the  spiritual 
and  moral  qualities,  are  the  more  Divine.  The  resist- 
less might  of  natural  forces  shows  us  little  of  God  till 
we  have  elsewhere  learned  to  know  Him  ;  the  power 
that  upholds  the  planets  in  their  orbits  speaks  but  of 
physical  force,  and  tells  us  nothing  of  any  holy,  loving 
Being.  There  is  no  moral  quality,  no  character,  im- 
pressed upon  these  works  of  God,  mighty  though  the\ 
be.  Nothing  but  an  impersonal  power  meets  us  in 
them ;  a  power  which  may  awe  and  crush  us,  but  which 
we  cannot  adore,  worship,  and  love.  In  a  word,  God 
cannot  reveal  Himself  to  us  by  any  overwhelming 
display  of  His  nearness  or  His  power.  Though  the 
whole  universe  fell  in  ruins  around  us,  or  though  we 
saw  a  new  world  spring  into  being  before  our  eyes, 
we  might  still  suppose  that  the  power  by  which  this 
was  effected  was  impersonal,  and  could  hold  no  fellow- 
ship with  us. 

Only,  then,  through  what  is  personal,  only  through 
what  is  like  ourselves,  only  through  what  is  moral, 
can  God  reveal  Himself  to  us.  Not  by  marvellous  dis- 
plays of  power  that  suddenly  awe  us,  but  by  goodness 
that  the  human  conscience  can  apprehend  and  gradually 
admire,  does  God  reveal  Himself  to  us.  If  we  doubt 
God's  existence,  if  we  doubt  whether  there  is  a  Spirit 
of  goodness  upholding  all  things,  wielding  all  things, 
and  triumphant  in  all  things,  let  us  look  to  Christ.  It 
is  in  Him  we  distinctly  see  upon  our' own  earth,  and 
in  circumstances  we  can  examine  and  understand, 
goodness;  goodness  tried  by  every  test  conceivable, 
goodness  carried  to  its  highest  pitch,  goodness  trium- 
phant. This  goodness,  though  in  human  forms  and 
circumstances,  is  yet  the  goodness  of  One  who  comes 
among  men  from  a  higher  sphere,  teaching,  forgiving, 


la  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

commanding,  assuring,  saving,  as  One  sent  to  deal 
with  men  rather  than  springing  from  them.  If  this  is 
not  God,  what  is  God  ?  What  higher  conception  of 
God  has  any  one  ever  had  ?  What  worthy  concep- 
tion of  God  is  there  that  is  not  satisfied  here  ?  What 
do  we  need  in  God,  or  suppose  to  be  in  God,  which 
we  have  not  in  Christ  ? 

If,  then,  we  still  feel  as  ii  we  had  not  sufficient  assur- 
ance of  God,  it  is  because  we  look  for  the  wrong  thing, 
or  seek  where  we  can  never  find.  Let  us  understand 
that  God  can  best  be  known  as  God  through  His  moral 
qualities,  through  His  love,  His  tenderness.  His  regard 
for  right ;  and  we  shall  perceive  that  the  most  suitable 
revelation  is  one  in  which  these  qualities  are  manifested. 
But  to  apprehend  these  qualities  as  they  appear  in 
actual  history  we  must  have  some  sense  for  and  love 
of  them.  They  that  are  pure  in  heart,  they  shall  see 
God ;  they  who  love  righteousness,  who  seek  with  low- 
liness for  purity  and  goodness,  they  will  find  in  Christ 
a  God  they  can  see  and  trust. 

The  lessons  of  the  Incarnation  are  obvious.  First, 
from  it  we  are  to  take  our  idea  of  God.  Sometimes 
we  feel  as  if  in  attributing  to  God  all  good  we  were 
dealing  merely  with  fancies  of  our  own  which  could 
not  be  justified  by  fact.  In  the  Incarnation  we  see 
what  God  has  actually  done.  Here  we  have,  not  a 
fancy,  not  a  hope,  not  a  vague  expectation,  not  a 
promise,  but  accomplished  fact,  as  solid  and  unchange- 
able as  our  own  past  life.  This  God  whom  we  have 
often  shunned,  and  felt  to  be  in  our  way  and  an  obstacle, 
whom  we  have  suspected  of  tyranny  and  thought  little 
of  injuring  and  disobeying,  has  through  compassion 
and  sympathy  with  us  broken  through  all  impossi- 
bilities, and  contrived  to  take  the  sinner's  place.     He, 


i.i-i8.]  THE  INCARNATION.  13 

the  ever  blessed  God,  accountable  for  no  evil  and  sole 
cause  of  all  good,  accepted  the  whole  of  our  condition, 
lived  as  a  creature,  Himself  bare  our  sicknesses,  all  that 
is  hardest  in  life,  all  that  is  bitterest  and  loneliest  in 
death,  in  His  own  experience  combining  all  the  agonies 
of  sinning  and  suffering  men,  and  all  the  ineffable 
sorrows  wherewith  God  looks  upon  sin  and  suffering. 
All  this  He  did,  not  for  the  sake  of  showing  us  how 
much  better  a  thing  the  Divine  nature  is  than  the 
human,  but  because  His  nature  impelled  Him  to  do  it ; 
because  He  could  not  bear  to  be  solitary  in  His  blessed- 
ness, to  know  in  Himself  the  joy  of  holiness  and  love 
while  His  creatures  were  missing  this  joy  and  making 
themselves  incapable  of  all  good. 

Our  first  thought  of  God,  then,  must  ever  be  that 
which  the  Incarnation  suggests :  that  the  God  with 
whom  alone  and  in  all  things  we  have  to  do  is  not  One 
who  is  alienated  from  us,  or  who  has  no  sympathy  with 
us,  or  who  is  absorbed  in  interests  very  different  from 
ours,  and  to  which  we  must  be  sacrificed ;  but  that  He  is 
One  who  sacrifices  Himself  for  us,  who  makes  all  things 
but  justice  and  right  bend  to  serve  us,  who  forgives 
our  misapprehensions,  our  coldness,  our  unspeakable 
folly,  and  makes  common  cause  with  us  in  all  that 
concerns  our  welfare.  As  while  on  earth  He  endured 
the  contradiction  of  sinners,  and  waited  till  they  came 
to  a  better  mind,  so  does  He  still,  with  Divine  patience, 
wait  till  we  recognise  Him  as  our  Friend,  and  humbly 
own  Him  as  our  God.  He  waits  till  we  learn  that  to  be 
God  is  not  to  be  a  mighty  King  enthroned  above  all  the 
assaults  of  His  creatures,  but  that  to  be  God  is  to  have 
more  love  than  all  besides ;  to  be  able  to  make  greater 
sacrifices  for  the  good  of  all ;  to  have  an  infinite 
capacity  to   humble  Himself,   to  put    Himself  out  of 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


sight,  and  to  consider  our  good.  This  is  the  God  we 
have  in  Christ ;  our  Judge  becoming  our  atoning  Victim, 
our  God  becoming  ou;  Father,  the  Infinite  One  coming 
with  all  His  helpfulness  into  the  most  intimate  relations 
with  us ;  is  this  not  a  God  to  whom  we  can  trust  our- 
selves, and  whom  we  can  love  and  serve  ?  If  this  is 
the  real  nature  of  God,  if  we  may  always  expect  such 
faithfulness  and  help  from  God,  if  to  be  God  be  to  be 
all  this,  as  full  of  love  in  the  future  as  He  has  shown 
Himself  in  the  past,  then  may  not  existence  yet  be 
that  perfect  joy  our  instincts  crave,  and  towards  which 
we  are  slowly  and  doubtfully  finding  our  way  through 
all  the  darkness,  and  strains,  and  shocks  that  are 
needed  to  sift  what  is  spiritual  in  us  from  what  is 
unworthy  ? 

The  second  lesson  the  Incarnation  teaches  regards 
our  own  duty.  Everywhere  among  the  first  disciples 
was  this  lesson  learned  and  inculcated.  "  Let  this 
mind,"  says  Paul,  "be  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ 
Jesus."  "  Christ  suffered  for  us,"  says  Peter,  "  leaving 
us  an  example."  "If  God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also 
to  love  one  another  "  is  the  very  spirit  of  John.  Look 
steadily  at  the  Incarnation,  at  the  love  which  made 
Christ  take  our  place  and  identify  Himself  with  us ; 
consider  the  new  breath  of  life  that  this  one  act  has 
breathed  into  human  life,  ennobling  the  world  and 
showing  us  how  deep  and  lovely  are  the  possibilities 
that  lie  in  human  nature ;  and  new  thoughts  of  your 
own  conduct  will  lay  hold  of  your  mind.  Come  to  this 
great  central  fire,  and  your  cold,  hard  nature  will  be 
melted ;  try  in  some  sort  to  weigh  this  Divine  love 
and  accept  it  as  your  own,  as  that  which  embraces 
and  cares  for  and  carries  you  on  to  all  good,  and  you 
will  insensibly  be  imbued  with  its   spirit.     You  will 


i.i-i8.]  THE  INCARNATION.  15 

feel  that  no  loss  could  be  so  great  as  to  lose  the 
possession  and  exercise  of  this  love  in  your  own  heart. 
Great  as  are  the  gifts  it  bestows,  you  begin  to  see  that 
the  greatest  of  them  all  is  that  it  transforms  you  into 
its  own  likeness,  and  teaches  you  yourself  to  love  in 
the  same  sort.  Understanding  our  security  and  our 
joyful  prospect  as  saved  by  the  care  of  God,  and  as 
provided  for  by  a  love  of  perfect  intelligence  and 
absolute  resource;  humbled  and  softened  and  melted 
by  the  free  spending  upon  us  of  so  Divine  and  com- 
plete a  grace,  our  heart  overflows  with  sympathy. 
We  cannot  receive  Christ's  love  without  communicating 
it.  It  imparts  a  glow  to  the  heart,  which  must  be  felt  t^ 
by  all  that  comes  in  contact  with  the  heart. 

And  as  Christ's  love  became  incarnate,  not  spending 
itself  in  any  one  great  display,  apart  from  the  needs 
of  men,  but  manifesting  itself  in  all  the  routine  and 
incident  of  a  human  life ;  never  wearying  through  the 
monotonous  toil  of  His  artisan-life,  never  provoked 
into  forgetfulness  in  His  boyhood ;  so  must  our  love 
derived  from  Him  be  incarnated ;  not  spent  in  one 
display,  but  animating  our  whole  life  in  the  flesh,  and 
finding  expression  for  itself  in  all  that  our  earthly 
condition  brings  us  into  contact  with.  The  thoughts 
we  think  and  the  actions  we  do  are  mainly  concerned 
with  other  people.  We  are  living  in  families,  or  we 
are  related  as  employer  and  employed,  or  we  are 
thrown  together  by  the  hundred  necessities  of  life ;  in 
all  these  connections  we  are  to  be  guided  by  the  spirit 
which  prompted  Christ  to  become  incarnate.  Our 
chance  of  doing  good  in  the  world  depends  upon  this. 
Our  review  of  life  at  the  close  will  be  satisfactory  or 
the  reverse  in  proportion  as  we  have  or  have  not  been 
in  fact  animated  by  the  spirit  of  the  Incarnation.     We 


i6  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

must  learn  to  bear  one  another's  burdens,  and  the 
Incarnation  shows  us  that  we  can  do  so  only  in  so  far  as 
we  identify  ourselves  with  others  and  live  for  them. 
Christ  helped  us  by  coming  down  to  our  condition  and 
living  our  life.  This  is  the  guide  to  all  help  we  can 
give.  If  anything  can  reclaim  the  lowest  class  in  our 
population,  it  is  by  men  of  godly  life  living  among 
them ;  not  living  among  them  in  comforts  unattain- 
able by  them,  but  living  in  all  points  as  they  live,  save 
that  they  live  without  sin.  Christ  had  no  money  to 
give,  no  knowledge  of  science  to  impart ;  He  lived  a 
sympathetic  and  godly  life,  regardless  of  Himself.  Few 
can  follow  Him,  but  let  us  never  lose  sight  of  His 
method.  The  poor  are  not  the  only  class  that  need 
help.  It  is  our  dependence  on  money  as  the  medium 
of  charity  that  has  begotten  that  feeling.  It  is  easy 
to  give  money;  and  so  we  discharge  our  obligation, 
and  feel  as  if  we  had  done  alL  It  is  not  money  that 
even  the  poorest  have  most  need  of;  and  it  is  not 
money  at  all,  but  sympathy,  which  all  classes  need — 
that  true  sympathy  which  gives  us  insight  into  their 
condition,  and  prompts  us  to  bear  their  burdens,  what- 
ever these  are.  There  are  many  men  on  earth  who 
are  mere  hindrances  to  better  men ;  who  cannot  manage 
their  own  affairs  or  play  their  own  part,  but  are 
continually  entangled  and  in  difficulties.  They  are  a 
drag  on  society,  requiring  the  help  of  more  serviceable 
men,  and  preventing  such  men  from  enjoying  the  fruit 
of  their  own  labour.  There  are,  again,  men  who  are 
not  of  our  kind,  men  whose  tastes  are  not  ours.  There 
are  men  who  seem  pursued  by  misfortune,  and  men 
who  by  their  own  sin  keep  themselves  continually  in 
the  mire.  There  are,  in  short,  various  classes  of 
persons  with  whom  we  are  day  by  day  tempted  to  have 


i.I-i8.]  THE  INCARNATION.  Vf 

no  more  to  do  whatever;  we  are  exasperated  by  the 
discomfort  they  occasion  us,  the  anxiety  and  vexation 
and  expenditure  of  time,  feeling,  and  labour  constantly 
renewed  so  long  as  we  are  in  connection  with  them. 
Why  should  we  be  held  down  by  unworthy  people  ? 
Why  should  we  have  the  ease  and  joy  taken  out  of  our 
life  by  the  ceaseless  demands  made  upon  us  by  wicked, 
careless,  incapable,  ungrateful  people  ?  Why  must  we 
still  be  patient,  still  postponing  our  own  interests  to 
theirs  ?  Simply  because  this  is  the  method  by  which 
the  salvation  of  the  world  is  actually  accomplished; 
simply  because  we  ourselves  thus  tax  the  patience  of 
Christ,  and  because  we  feel  that  the  love  we  depend 
upon  and  believe  in  as  the  salvation  of  the  world  we 
must  ourselves  endeavour  to  show.  Recognising  how 
Christ  has  humbled  Himself  to  bear  the  burden  of 
shame  and  misery  we  have  laid  upon  Him,  we  cannot 
refuse  to  bear  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the 
law  of  Christ. 


II. 

RECEPTION  CHRIST  MET   WITH. 


»9 


John  i.  i-iSc 


20 


II. 

RECEPTION  CHRIST  MET  WITH. 

IN  describing  the  Word  of  God,  John  mentions  two 
attributes  of  His  by  which  His  relation  to  men 
becomes  apparent :  "  All  things  were  made  by  Him," 
and  "  the  life  was  the  light  of  men."  By  whom  were 
all  things  made  ?  what  is  the  originating  force  which 
has  produced  the  world  ?  how  are  we  to  account  for 
the  existence,  the  harmony,  and  the  progress  of  the 
universe  ? — these  are  questions  which  must  always 
be  put.  Everywhere  in  nature  force  and  intelligence 
appear ;  the  supply  of  life  and  power  is  unfailing,  and 
the  unconscious  planets  are  as  regular  and  harmonious 
in  their  action  as  the  creatures  that  are  endowed  with 
conscious  intelligence  and  the  power  of  self-guidance. 
That  the  whole  universe  is  one  does  not  admit  of  a 
doubt.  Far  as  the  astronomer  can  search  into  infinite 
space,  he  finds  the  same  laws  and  one  plan,  and  no 
evidence  of  another  hand  or  another  mind.  To  what 
is  this  unity  to  be  referred  ?  John  here  affirms  that  the 
intelligence  and  power  which  underlie  all  things  belong 
to  the  Word  of  God  :  "  without  Him  was  not  anything 
made  which  was  made." 

"  In  Him  was  life."  In  this  Divine  Being,  who  was 
"  in  the  beginning  "  before  all  things,  there  was  that 
which  gives  existence  to  all  else.  "  And  the  life  was 
the  M^hi  of  men."     That  life  which  appears  in   tlie 

#1 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


harmony  and  progress  of  inanimate  nature,  and  in 
the  wonderfully  manifold  and  yet  related  forms  of 
animal  existence,  appears  in  man  as  "  light " — intellec- 
tual and  moral  light,  reason  and  conscience.  All  the 
endowment  possessed  by  man  as  a  moral  being,  capable 
of  self-determination  and  of  choosing  what  is  morally 
good,  springs  from  the  one  fountain  of  life  which  exists 
in  the  Word  of  God. 

It  is  in  the  light  of  this  close  relationship  of  the 
Word  to  the  world  and  to  men  that  John  views  the 
reception  He  met  with  when  He  became  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us.  This  reception  forms  the  great  tragedy  of 
human  history.  "  In  Agamemnon  returning  to  his 
palace  after  ten  years*  absence,  and  falling  by  the  hand 
of  his  unfaithful  spouse,  we  have  the  event  which  is 
tragical  par  excellence  in  pagan  history.  But  what  is 
that  outrage  when  compared  with  the  theocratic 
tragedy  ?  The  God  invoked  by  the  nation  appears  in 
His  temple,  and  is  crucified  by  His  own  worshippers." 
To  John  it  seemed  as  if  the  relationship  borne  by  the 
Word  to  those  who  rejected  Him  was  the  tragical 
element  in  the  rejection. 

Three  different  aspects  of  this  relationship  are 
mentioned,  that  the  bUndness  of  the  rejecters  may  more 
distinctly  be  seen.  First,  he  says,  although  the  very 
light  that  was  in  man  was  derived  from  the  Word, 
xnd  it  was  by  His  endowment  they  had  any  power  to 
.ecognise  what  was  illuminating  and  helpful  to  their 
spiritual  nature,  they  yet  shut  their  eyes  to  the  source 
of  light  when  presented  in  the  Word  Himself.  "  The 
life  was  the  light  of  men  .  .  .  And  the  Hght  shineth 
in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  apprehended  it  not." 
This  is  the  general  statement  of  the  universal  experi- 
ence of  the  Eternal  Word,  and  it  is  illustrated  in  tiis 


i.l-i8.]  RECEPTION  CHRIST  MET  WITH.  %% 

incarnate  experience  summarily  related  in  verses  lO 
and  II.  Again  :  "  He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world 
was  made  by  Him,  and  the  world  knew  Him  not" 
So  little  had  men  understood  the  source  of  their  own 
being,  and  so  little  had  they  learned  to  know  the 
significance  and  purpose  of  their  existence,  that  when 
their  Creator  came  they  did  not  recognise  Him.  And 
thirdly,  even  the  narrow  and  carefully-trained  circle  of 
the  Jews  failed  to  recognise  Him ;  "  He  came  unto  His 
own" — to  everything  which  had  pointedly  and  of  set 
purpose  spoken  of  Him,  and  could  not  have  existed  but 
to  teach  His  character — "and  His  own  received  Him 
not." 

1.  "  The  light  shineth  in  the  darkness ;  and  the  dark- 
ness apprehended  it  not."  As  yet  John  has  said  nothing 
of  the  Incarnation,  and  is  speaking  of  the  Word  in 
His  eternal  or  pre-incarnate  state.  And  one  thing  he 
desires  to  proclaim  regarding  the  Word  is,  that  although 
it  is  from  Him  every  man  has  such  light  as  he  has, 
yet  this  light  is  commonly  rendered  useless,  and  is  not 
cherished.  As  it  is  from  the  Word,  from  God's  uttered 
will,  that  all  men  have  life,  so  it  is  from  the  same 
source  that  all  the  hght  which  is  in  reason  and  in 
conscience  is  derived.  Before  the  Word  appeared  in 
the  world,  and  shone  out  as  the  true  light  (ver.  9),  He 
was  in  all  rational  creatures  as  their  life  and  light, 
imparting  to  men  a  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  and 
shining  in  their  heart  with  some  of  the  brightness  o. 
a  Divine  presence.  This  sense  of  a  connection  with 
God  and  eternity,  and  this  moral  faculty,  although 
cherished  by  some,  were  commonly  not  "compre- 
hended." Evil  deeds  have  been  suffered  to  darken 
conscience,  and  it  fails  to  admit  the  true  light. 

2.  "  He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


by  Him,  and  the  world  knew  Him  not"  When  our 
Lord  came  to  earth  the  heathen  world  was  mainly 
represented  by  the  Roman  Empire,  and  one  of  the 
earliest  events  of  His  life  on  earth  was  His  enrolment 
as  a  subject  of  that  empire.  If  we  had  been  invited 
before  His  coming  to  imagine  what  would  be  the 
result  upon  this  empire  of  His  appearance,  we  should 
probably  have  expected  something  very  different  from 
that  which  actually  happened.  The  real  Sovereign  is 
to  appear ;  the  Being  who  made  all  that  is,  is  to  come 
and  visit  His  possessions.  Will  not  a  thrill  of  glad 
expectancy  run  through  the  world?  Will  not  men 
eagerly  cover  up  whatever  may  offend  Him,  and  eagerly 
attempt,  with  such  scant  materials  as  existed,  to  make 
preparations  for  His  worthy  reception  ?  The  one 
Being  who  can  make  no  mistakes,  and  who  can  rectify 
the  mistakes  of  a  worn-out,  entangled  world,  is  to  come 
for  the  express  purpose  of  delivering  it  from  all  ill  : 
will  not  men  gladly  yield  the  reins  to  Him,  and  gladly 
second  Him  in  all  His  enterprise?  Will  it  not  be 
a  time  of  universal  concord  and  brotherhood,  all  men 
joining  to  pay  homage  to  their  common  God  ?  "  He 
was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by  Him  " — 
that  is  the  true,  bare,  unvarnished  statement  of  the 
fact  There  He  was,  the  Creator  Himself,  that  mys- 
terious Being  who  had  hitherto  kept  Himself  so  hidden 
and  remote  while  yet  so  influential  and  supreme ;  the 
wonderful  and  unsearchable  Source  and  Fountain  out 
of  which  had  proceeded  all  that  men  saw,  themselves 
included, — there  at  last  He  was  "  in  the  world  "  Himself 
had  made,  apparent  to  the  eyes  of  men,  and  intelligible 
to  their  understandings  ;  a  real  person  whom  they  could 
know  as  an  individual,  whom  they  could  love,  who 
could  receive  and  return  their  expressions  of  affection 


Ll-l8.]  RECEPTION  CHRIST  MET  WITH.  Wg 

and  trust.     He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  knew 
Him  not 

Indeed,  it  would  not  have  been  easy  for  the  world 
to  show  a  more  entire  ignorance  of  God  than  while 
He  was  upon  earth  in  human  form.  There  was  at 
that  time  abundance  of  activity  and  intelligent  appre- 
hension of  the  external  wants  of  men  and  nations. 
There  was  a  ceaseless  running  to  and  fro  of  the 
couriers  of  the  empire,  a  fine  system  of  communications 
spread  over  the  whole  known  world  like  a  network, 
so  that  what  transpired  in  the  most  remote  corner  was 
at  once  known  at  the  centre.  Rome  was  intelligent  to 
the  utmost  circumference  through  all  its  dominions; 
as  if  a  nervous  system  radiated  through  the  whole  of 
it,  touch  but  the  extremity  in  one  of  the  remotest 
colonies  and  the  touch  is  felt  at  the  brain  and  heart 
of  the  whole.^  The  rising  of  a  British  tribe,  the 
discovery  of  some  unheard-of  bird  or  beast,  the  birth 
of  a  calf  with  two  heads — every  scrap  of  gossip  found 
its  way  to  Rome.'  But  the  entrance  of  the  Creator 
into  the  world  was  an  event  of  such  insignificance  that 
not  even  this  finely  sympathetic  system  took  any  note 
of  it.  The  great  Roman  world  remained  in  absolute 
unconsciousness  of  the  vicinity  of  God  :  they  registered 
His  birth,  took  account  of  Him  as  one  to  be  taxed, 
but  were  as  little  aware  as  the  oxen  with  whom  He 
shared  His  first  sleeping-place,  that  this  was  God ; 
they  saw  Him  with  the  same  stupid,  unconscious, 
bovine  stare." 

3.  But  in  this  great  world  of  men  there  was  an 
inner  and  specially    trained   circle,   which   John  here 

'  See  Isaac  Taylor's  Restoration  ef  Belitf, 

*  See  Pliny's  Letters  to  Trajan^  %y,  98. 

•  Cp.  Faber's  BethMum- 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


designates  "  His  own."  For  although  the  world  might 
be  called  "  His  own,"  as  made  and  upheld  by  Him,  yet 
it  seems  more  likely  that  this  verse  is  not  a  mere  repe- 
tition of  the  preceding,  but  is  intended  to  mark  a  deeper 
degree  of  insensibility  on  the  part  of  Christ's  rejecters. 
Not  only  had  all  men  been  made  in  God's  image,  so 
that  they  might  have  been  expected  to  recognise  Christ 
as  the  image  of  the  Father ;  but  one  nation  had  been 
specially  instructed  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  was 
proud  of  having  His  dwelling-place  in  its  midst.  If 
other  men  were  blind  to  God's  glory,  the  Jews  at  learst 
might  have  been  expected  to  welcome  Christ  when  He 
came.  Their  temple  and  all  that  was  done  in  it,  their 
law,  their  prophets,  their  institutions,  their  history  and 
their  daily  life,  all  spoke  to  them  of  God,  and  reminded 
them  that  God  dwelt  among  them  and  would  conie  to 
His  own.  Though  all  the  world  should  shut  its  doors 
against  Christ,  surely  the  gates  of  the  Temple,  His 
own  house,  would  be  thrown  open  to  Him.  For  what 
else  did  it  exist  ? 

Our  Lord  Himself,  in  the  parable  of  the  Wicked 
Husbandmen,  makes  even  a  heavier  accusation  against 
the  Jews,  intimating,  as  He  there  does,  that  they 
rejected  Him  not  because  they  did  not  recognise  Him, 
but  because  they  did.  "  This  is  the  Heir.  Come,  let 
us  kill  Him,  that  the  inheritance  may  be  ours."  In  any 
case  their  guilt  is  great.  They  had  been  definitely  and 
repeatedly  admonished  to  expect  some  great  manifesta- 
tion of  God ;  they  looked  for  the  Christ  to  come,  and 
immediately  before  His  appearance  they  had  been 
strikingly  awakened  to  prepare  for  His  coming.  But 
what  was  their  actual  state  when  Christ  came  ?  Again 
and  again  it  has  been  pointed  out  that  their  whole 
thoughts   were  given  to  the   schemes   which    usually 


I.I-I8.]  RECEPTION  CHRIST  MET  WITH.  Vf 

distract  conquered  nations.  They  were  "  tossing  in 
unhelpful  and  inefficacious  sedition,"  resenting  or  pay- 
ing hollow  homage  to  the  rule  of  the  foreigner,  looking 
uneasily  for  deliverance,  and  becoming  the  dupes  of 
every  fanatic  or  schemer  that  cried,  "  Lo  here ! "  or 
"  Lc  there ! "  Their  power  of  discerning  a  present 
God  and  a  spiritual  Deliverer  was  almost  as  completely 
gone  as  that  of  the  heathen,  and  they  tested  the  Divine 
Saviour  by  external  methods  which  any  clever  char- 
latan could  have  satisfied.  The  God  they  believed  in 
and  sought  was  not  the  God  revealed  by  Christ.  They 
existed  for  Christ's  sake,  that  among  them  He  might 
find  a  home  on  earth,  and  through  them  be  made  known 
to  all ;  they  believed  in  a  Christ  that  was  to  come,  but 
when  He  came  the  throne  they  raised  Him  to  was  the 
cross.  And  the  suspicion  that  perhaps  they  were 
wrong  has  preyed  on  the  Jewish  mind  ever  since,  and 
has  often  pricked  them  on  to  a  fierce  hatred  of  the 
Christian  name,  while  sometimes  it  has  taken  almost 
the  form  of  penitence,  as  in  the  prayer  of  Rabbi  Ben 
Ezra, — 

"  Thou  I  if  Thou  wast  He,  who  at  mid- watch  came^ 
By  the  starlight,  naming  a  dubious  name  ! 
And  if,  too  heavy  with  sleep — too  rash 
With  fear — O  Thou,  if  that  martyr-gash 
Fell  on  Thee  coming  to  take  Thine  own. 
And  we  gave  the  Cross,  when  we  owed  the  Throne^— 
Thou  art  the  Judge." 

It  is  the  detailed  history  of  this  rejection  which  John 
presents  in  his  Gospel.  He  tells  the  story  of  Christ's 
miracles,  and  the  jealousy  they  excited ;  of  His  authori- 
tative teaching  and  the  opposition  it  aroused ;  of  His 
unveiling  His  Divine  nature,  His  mercy.  His  power  to 
give  life,  His  prerogative  of  judgment,  His  humble  self- 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


sacrifice,  and  of  the  misunderstanding  which  ran  parallel 
to  this  manifestation.  He  tells  how  the  leaders  strove 
to  entangle  Him  and  find  Him  at  fault ;  how  they  took 
up  stones  to  stone  Him ;  how  they  schemed  and  plotted, 
and  at  length  compassed  His  crucifixion.  The  patience 
with  which  He  met  this  "  contradiction  of  sinners  *  was 
a  sufficient  revelation  of  His  Divine  nature.  Though 
rudely  received,  though  met  on  all  hands  with  suspicion, 
coldness,  and  hostility,  He  did  not  abandon  the  world 
in  indignation.  He  never  forgot  that  He  came,  not  to 
judge  the  world,  not  to  deal  with  us  on  our  merits,  but 
to  save  the  world  from  its  sin  and  its  blindness.  For 
the  sake  of  the  few  who  received  Him  He  bore  with 
the  many  who  rejected  Him. 

For  some  did  receive  Him.  John  could  say  for  many, 
along  with  himself,  "  We  beheld  His  glory,"  and  recog- 
nised that  it  was  Divine  glory,  such  as  none  but  an 
Only-begotten  in  the  image  of  His  Father  could  mani- 
fest. This  glory  dawned  upon  believing  men,  and 
gradually  encompassed  them  in  the  brightness  and 
beauty  of  a  Divine  revelation,  by  the  appearance  among 
them  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  "  full  of  grace  and  truth  " 
(ver.  14).  Not  the  works  01  wonder  which  He  did,  not 
the  authority  with  which  He  laid  the  angry  waves  and 
commanded  the  powers  of  evil,  but  the  grace  and  truth 
which  underlay  all  His  works,  shone  into  their  hearts 
as  Divine  glory.  They  had  previously  known  God 
through  the  law  given  by  Moses  (ver.  17) ;  but  coming  as 
it  did  through  law,  this  knowledge  was  coloured  by  its 
medium,  and  through  it  God's  countenance  seemed  stem. 
In  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  they  saw  the  Father,  they 
saw  "  grace,"  an  eye  of  tender  compassion  and  lips  of 
love  and  helpfulness.  In  the  law  they  felt  that  they 
were  seeing  through  a  dimmed  glass  darkly  ;  they  be- 


i.i-l8.1  RECEPTION  CHRIST  MET  WITH.  99 

came  weary  of  symbols  and  of  forms  in  which  often 
they  saw  but  flitting  shadows.  What  must  it  have  been 
for  such  men  to  live  with  the  manifested  God ;  to  have 
Him  dwelling  among  them,  and  in  Him  to  handle  and 
see  (i  John  i.  i)  the  "truth,"  the  reality  to  which  all 
symbol  had  pointed  ?  "  The  law  was  given  by  Moses  ; 
grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ."  ^ 

And  to  those  who  acknowledge  in  their  hearts  that 
this  is  Divine  glory  which  is  seen  in  Christ,  the  glory 
of  the  Only-begotten  of  the  Father,  He  gives  Himself 
with  all  His  fulness.  "  As  many  as  received  Him,  to 
them  gave  He  the  right  to  become  children  of  God." 
This  is  the  immediate  result  of  the  acceptance  of  Christ 
as  the  Revealer  of  the  Father,  In  Him  we  see  what 
true  glory  is  and  what  true  sonship  is;  and  as  we 
behold  the  glory  of  the  Only-begotten,  sent  to  declare 
the  Father  to  us,  we  acknowledge  the  unseen  Father, 
and  His  Spirit  brings  us  into  the  relationship  of 
children.  That  which  is  in  God  passes  into  us,  and  we 
share  in  the  life  of  God  ;  anr^  this  through  Christ.  He 
is  "  full "  of  grace  and  truth.  In  all  He  is  and  does, 
grace  and  truth  overflowingly  manifest  themselves.  And 
''of  His  fulness  have  all  we  received,  and  grace  upon 
grace."  '  John  read  this  off  his  own  experience  and  that 
of  those  for  whom  he  could  confidently  speak.  What 
they  had  seen  and  valued  in  Christ  became  their  own 
character.  The  inexhaustible  fulness  of  grace  in  Christ 
renewed  in  them  grace  according  to  their  need.  They 
lived  upon  Him,  It  v/as  His  life  Vv'hich  maintained  life 
in  them.  By  communion  with  Him  they  were  formed 
in  His  likeness. 

'  The  first  introduction  in  the  Gospel  of  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ. 
'  This  expression  means  a  succession  of  graces,   higher  grace  ever 
Uldng  the  place  of  lower. 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


The  presentation  of  Christ  to  men  now  divides  them 
into  two  classes,  as  at  the  first  There  are  always  those 
who  accept  and  those  who  reject  Him.  His  contem- 
poraries showed,  for  the  most  part,  a  complete  ignorance 
of  what  might  be  expected  of  God,  a  native  inability  to 
understand  spiritual  greatness,  and  to  relish  it  when 
presented  to  them.  And  yet  Christ's  claims  were  made 
with  such  an  air  of  authority  and  truth,  and  His  whole 
character  and  bearing  were  so  consistent,  that  they 
were  half  persuaded  He  was  all  He  said.  It  is  chiefly 
because  we  have  not  a  perfect  sympathy  with  goodness, 
and  do  not  know  its  value,  that  we  do  not  at  once  and 
universally  acknowledge  Christ.  There  is  in  men  an 
instinct  that  tells  them  what  blessings  Christ  will  secure 
to  them,  and  they  decline  connection  with  Him  because 
they  are  conscious  that  their  ways  are  not  His  ways, 
nor  their  hopes  His  hopes.  The  very  presentation  to 
men  of  the  possibility  of  becoming  perfectly  pure  reveals 
what  at  heart  they  are.  By  the  judgment  each  man 
passes  on  Christ  he  passes  judgment  on  himself. 

Let  us  stir  ourselves  to  a  clearer  decision  by  re- 
membering that  He  is  presented  to  us  as  to  His 
contemporaries.  Time  was  when  any  one  going  into 
the  synagogue  of  Nazareth  would  have  seen  Him,  and 
might  have  spoken  with  Him.  But  the  particular  thirty 
years  during  which  this  manifestation  of  God  on  earth 
lasted  makes  no  material  difference  to  the  thing  itself 
The  Incarnation  was  to  be  some  time,  and  it  is  as  real 
having  occurred  then  as  if  it  were  occurring  now.  It 
occurred  in  its  fit  time ;  but  its  bearing  on  us  is  not 
dependent  on  the  time  of  its  occurrence.  If  it  had  been 
accomplished  in  our  day,  what  should  we  have  thought 
of  it  ?  Would  it  have  been  nothing  to  us  to  see  God, 
to  hear  Him,  perhaps  to  have  had  His  eye  turned  upcm 


Li-i8.]  RECEPTION  CHRIST  MET  WITH.  31 


US  with  pergonal  observation,  with  pity,  with  remon- 
strance ?  Would  it  have  been  nothing  to  us  to  see 
Him  taking  the  sinner's  place,  scourged,  mocked,  cruci- 
fied ?  Is  it  conceivable  that  in  presence  of  such  a 
manifestation  of  God  we  should  have  been  indifferent  ? 
Would  not  our  whole  nature  have  burned  with  shame 
that  we  and  our  fellowmen  should  have  brought  our 
God  to  this  ?  And  are  we  to  suffer  the  mere  fact  of 
Christ's  being  incarnate  in  a  past  age  and  not  in  our  own, 
to  alter  our  attitude  towards  Him,  and  blind  us  to  the 
reality  ?  Of  more  importance  than  anything  that  is 
now  happening  in  our  own  life  is  this  Incarnation  of 
the  Only-begotten  of  the  Father. 


III. 

THE  BAPTISrS  TESTIMONY, 


"There  came  a  man,  tent  from  God,  who«e  name  was  John.  Th« 
aame  came  for  witness,  that  he  might  bear  witness  of  the  light,  that  all 
might  believe  through  him.  He  was  not  the  light,  but  came  that 
he  might  bear  witness  of  the  light.  .  .  .  John  beareth  witness  of 
Him,  and  crieth,  saying.  This  was  He  of  whom  I  said,  He  that 
Cometh  after  me  is  preferred  before  me :  for  He  was  before  me.  For 
of  His  fulness  we  all  received,  and  grace  for  grace.  For  the  law  was 
given  by  Moses;  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ,  No  man 
hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  He  hath  declared  Him.  And  this  is  the  witness 
of  John,  when  the  Jews  sent  unto  him  from  Jerusalem  priests  and 
Levites  to  ask  him,  Who  art  thou?  And  he  confessed,  and  denied 
not ;  and  he  confessed,  I  am  not  the  Christ.  And  they  asked  him, 
What  then?  Art  thou  Elijah?  And  he  saith,  I  am  not  Art  thou 
the  prophet  ?  And  he  answered,  No.  They  said  therefore  unto  him, 
Who  art  thou?  that  we  may  give  an  answer  to  them  that  sent  us. 
What  sayest  thou  of  thyself?  He  said,  I  am  the  voice  of  one  crying  in 
the  wilderness,  Make  straight  the  way  of  the  Lord,  as  said  Isaiah  the 
prophet.  And  they  had  been  sent  from  the  Pharisees.  And  they  asked 
him,  and  said  unto  him,  Why  then  baptizest  thou,  if  thou  art  not  the 
Christ,  neither  Elijah,  neither  the  prophet?  John  answered  them, 
saying,  I  baptize  with  water  :  in  the  midst  of  you  standeth  One  whom 
ye  know  not,  even  He  that  cometh  after  me,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoe 
I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose.  These  things  were  done  in  Bethany 
beyond  Jordan,  where  John  was  baptizing.  On  the  morrow  he  seeth 
Jesus  coming  unto  him,  and  saith,  Behold,  the  Lamb  of  God,  which 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  I  This  is  He  of  whom  I  said,  After 
me  cometh  a  Man  which  is  preferred  before  me  :  for  He  was  before  me. 
And  I  knew  Him  not ;  but  that  He  should  be  made  manifest  to  Israel, 
for  this  cause  came  I  baptizing  -with  water.  And  John  bare  witness, 
saying,  I  have  beheld  the  Spirit  descending  as  a  dove  out  of  heaven  ; 
and  it  abode  upon  Him.  And  I  knew  Him  not :  but  He  that  sent  me 
to  baptize  with  water.  He  said  unto  me,  Upon  whomsoever  thou  shall 
see  the  Spirit  descending,  and  abiding  apon  Him,  the  same  is  He  that 
baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Spirit  And  I  have  seen,  and  have  bom«* 
witness  that  thisJi  tW&on  of  God."— Jo^^  >•  ^'^t  15-34* 


III. 

THE  BAPTIST'S  TESTIMONY. 

IN  proceeding  to  show  how  the  Incarnate  Word 
manifested  Himself  among  men,  and  how  this 
manifestation  was  received,  John  naturally  speaks  first 
of  all  of  the  Baptist.  "There  came  a  man,  sent  from 
God,  whose  name  was  John.  The  same  came  for 
witness  .  .  .  that  all  might  believe  through  him."  The 
Evangelist  himself  had  been  one  of  the  Baptist's  dis- 
ciples, and  had  been  led  to  Christ  by  his  testimony. 
And  to  many  besides,  the  Baptist  was  the  true  fore- 
runner of  the  Messiah.  He  was  the  first  to  recognise 
and  proclaim  the  present  King.  John  had  come  under 
the  Baptist's  influence  at  the  most  impressible  time  of 
his  life,  while  his  character  was  being  formed  and  his 
ideas  of  religion  taking  shape ;  and  his  teacher's  testi- 
mony to  the  dignity  of  Jesus  had  left  an  indelible  print 
upon  his  spirit.  While  his  memory  retained  anything  it 
could  not  let  slip  what  his  first  teacher  had  said  of  Him 
who  became  his  Teacher  and  his  Lord.  While,  there- 
fore, the  other  Evangelists  give  us  striking  pictures  of 
the  Baptist's  appearance,  habits,  and  style  of  preaching, 
and  show  us  the  connection  of  his  work  with  that  of 
Jesus,  John  glances  very  slightly  at  these  matters,  but 
dwells  with  emphasis  and  iteration  on  the  testimony 
which  the  Baptist  bore  to  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus. 


3«  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

To  us,  at  this  time  of  day,  it  may  seem  of  little  im- 
portance what  the  Baptist  thought  or  said  of  Jesus. 
We  may  sympathise  rather  with  the  words  of  the  Lord 
Himself,  who,  in  allusion  to  this  witness,  said,  "  I  receive 
not  testimony  from  man."  But  it  is  plain  that,  at  any 
rate  from  a  Jewish  point  of  view,  the  witness  of  John 
was  most  important.  The  people  universally  accepted 
John  as  a  prophet,  and  they  could  scarcely  think  him 
mistaken  in  the  chief  article  of  his  mission.  In  point 
of  fact,  many  of  the  most  faithful  adherents  of  Jesus 
became  such  through  the  influence  of  John  ;  and  those 
who  declined  to  accept  Jesus  were  always  staggered 
by  John's  explicit  indication  of  Him  as  the  Christ. 
The  Jews  had  not  only  the  predictions  of  prophets 
long  since  dead,  and  descriptions  of  the  Christ  which 
they  could  perversely  misconstrue ;  they  had  not 
merely  pictures  of  their  Messiah  by  which  they  might 
identify  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  but  of  which  it  was  also 
quite  possible  for  them  to  deny  the  likeness ;  but  they 
had  a  living  contemporary,  whom  they  themselves 
acknowledged  to  be  a  prophet,  pointing  out  to  them 
another  living  contemporary  as  the  Christ.  That  even 
such  a  testimony  was  to  a  large  extent  disregarded 
shows  how  much  more  the  inclination  to  believe  has 
to  do  with  our  faith  than  any  external  proofs. 

But  even  to  us  the  testimony  of  a  man  like  John 
is  not  without  importance.  He  was,  as  our  Lord  bore 
witness,  "  a  burning  and  a  shining  light."  He  was  one 
of  those  men  who  give  new  thoughts  to  their  generation, 
and  help  men  to  see  clearly  what  otherwise  they  might 
only  dimly  have  seen.  He  was  in  a  position  to  know 
Jesus  well.  He  was  His  cousin ;  he  had  known  Him 
from  His  childhood.  He  was  also  in  a  position  to 
know  what  was  involved  in  being  the  Messiah.      By 


i. 6-8, 15-34.]      THE  BAPTIST'S  TESTIMONY.  37 

the  very  circumstance  that  he  himself  had  been  mis- 
taken for  the  Messiah,  he  was  driven  to  define  to  his 
own  mind  the  distinctive  and  characteristic  marks  of 
the  Messiah.  Nothing  could  so  have  led  him  to 
apprehend  the  difference  between  himself  and  Jesus. 
More  and  more  clearly  must  he  have  seen  that  he  was 
not  that  light,  but  was  sent  to  bear  witness  of  that  light. 
Thus  he  was  prepared  to  receive  with  understanding 
the  sign  (ver.  33)  which  gave  him  something  more  than 
his  own  personal  surinises  to  go  upon  in  declaring  Jesus 
to  the  world  as  the  Messiah.  If  there  is  any  man's 
testimony  we  may  accept  about  our  Lord  it  is  that  of 
the  Baptist,  who,  from  his  close  contact  with  the  most 
profligate  and  with  the  most  spiritual  of  the  people,  saw 
what  they  needed,  and  saw  in  Jesus  power  to  give  it ; 
the  business  of  whose  life  it  was  to  make  Him  out,  and 
to  arrive  at  certain  information  regarding  Him ;  a  man 
whose  own  elevation  and  force  of  character  made  many 
fancy  he  was  the  Messiah,  but  who  hastened  to  dis- 
abuse their  minds  of  such  an  idea,  because  his  very 
elevation  gave  him  capacity  to  see  how  infinitely  above 
him  the  true  Christ  was.  Seen  from  the  low  ground 
the  star  may  seem  close  to  the  top  of  the  mountain ; 
seen  from  the  mountain-top  it  is  recognised  as  infinitely 
above  it.     John  was  on  the  mountain-top. 

Of  John's  person  and  work  nothing  need  here  be 
said  save  what  serves  to  throw  light  on  his  witness  to 
Christ.  Going  from  the  comfortable  home  and  well- 
provided  life  and  fair  prospects  of  a  priest's  family, 
he  went  to  the  houseless  wilderness,  and  adopted  the 
meagre,  comfortless  life  of  an  ascetic ;  not  from  any 
necessity,  but  because  he  felt  that  to  entangle  himself 
with  the  affairs  of  the  world  would  be  to  blind  him  to 
its  vices,  and  to   silence  his  remonstrance,  if  not  tp 


38  THE   GOSPEL   OF  ST.  JOHN. 

implicate  him  in  its  guilt.  Like  thousands  besides 
in  all  ages  of  the  world's  history,  he  felt  compelled  to 
seek  solitude,  to  subdue  the  flesh,  to  meditate  undis- 
turbed on  things  Divine,  and  discover  for  himself  and 
for  others  some  better  way  than  religious  routine  and 
the  "  good  wine  of  Mosaic  morality  turned  to  the 
vinegar  of  Pharisaism."  Like  the  Nazarites  of  the 
earlier  times  of  his  country,  like  the  old  prophets, 
with  whose  indignation  and  deep  regret  at  the  national 
vices  he  was  in  perfect  sympathy,  he  left  the  world, 
gave  up  all  the  usual  prospects  and  ways  of  life,  and 
betook  himself  to  a  life  of  prayer,  and  thought,  and 
self-discipline  in  the  wilderness.  When  first  he  went 
there,  he  could  only  dimly  know  what  lay  before  him  ; 
but  he  gathered  a  few  friends  of  like  disposition  around 
him,  and,  as  we  learn,  "taught  them  to  pray."  He 
formed  in  the  wilderness  a  new  Israel,  a  little  company 
of  praying  souls,  who  spent  their  time  in  considering 
the  needs  of  their  fellow-countrymen,  and  in  inter- 
ceding with  God  for  them,  and  who  were  content  to 
let  the  pleasures  and  excitements  of  the  world  pass 
by  while  they  longed  for  and  prepared  themselves  to 
meet  the  great  Deliverer. 

This  adoption  of  the  r6le  of  the  ancient  prophets,  this 
resuscitation  of  their  long-forgotten  function  of  mourn- 
ing before  God  for  the  people's  sin,  and  addressing  the 
nation  authoritatively  as  God's  voice,  was  outwardly 
shown  by  his  assumption  of  the  prophet's  dress.  The 
rough  skin  for  a  cloak;  the  long,  uncared-for  hair; 
the  wiry,  weather-beaten  frame ;  the  lofty,  calm,  pene- 
trating eye,  were  all  eloquent  as  his  lips.  His  whole 
appearance  and  habits  certified  his  claim  to  be  the 
*'  voice  "  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  and  gave  him 
authority  with  the  people.     Slightly  altering  what  has 


i. 6-8,15-34]      THE  BAPTIST'S   TESTIMONY.  39 

been  said  of  a  great  modern,  we  may  much  more  truly 
say  of  the  Baptist, — 

**  He  took  the  suffering  human  race, 

He  read  each  wound,  each  weakness  cleat  | 
He  struck  his  finger  on  the  place, 

And  said,  '  Thou  ailest  here,  and  here.' 
He  looked  on  (Isr'el's)  dying  hour 
Of  fitful  dreams  and  feverish  power. 
And  said,  '  The  end  is  everywhere, 
(Christ)  still  has  truth,  take  refuge  there.'* 

He  was  listened  to.  It  is  so  always,  in  our  own  day 
as  in  others ;  the  men  who  are  unworldly  and  have  the 
good  of  their  country  or  of  any  class  of  men  at  heart, 
the  men  who  are  saintly  and  of  few  desires,  these  are 
listened  to  as  the  commissioned  messengers  of  heaven. 
It  is  to  these  men  we  look  as  the  salt  of  the  earth,  who 
preserve  us  still  from  the  corrupting,  disintegrating 
influence  of  doubt.  To  these  men,  no  matter  how 
different  they  be  from  us  in  creed,  we  are  forced  to 
listen,  because  the  Holy  Spirit,  wherever  He  is,  is  the 
Spirit  of  God ;  and  all  men  instinctively  acknowledge 
that  those  who  are  themselves  in  the  kingdom  of  God 
have  authority  to  summon  others  into  it,  and  that  those 
who  are  themselves  unworldly  have  alone  a  right  to 
dictate  to  worldly  men.  There  is  no  power  on  earth 
like  the  power  of  a  holy,  consecrated  life,  because  he 
who  is  leading  such  a  life  is  already  above  the  world, 
and  belongs  to  a  higher  kingdom.  There  is  hope  for 
our  country,  or  for  any  country,  when  its  young  men 
have  something  of  John's  spirit ;  when  they  school  the 
body  until  it  becomes  the  ready  instrument  of  a  high 
and  spiritual  intention,  fearless  of  hardship  ;  when  by 
sympathy  with  God's  purposes  they  apprehend  what  is 
most  needed  by  men,  and  are  able  to  detect  the  weak- 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


nesses  and  vices  of  society,  and  to  bear  the  burden  ol 
their  time. 

But  the  Baptist's  equipment  for  the  most  responsible 
office  of  proclaiming  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  was  not 
completed  by  his  own  saintliness  of  character  and  keen 
perception  of  the  people's  needs,  and  knowledge  oi 
Jesus,  and  incorruptible  truthfulness.  There  was  given 
to  him  a  sign  from  heaven,  that  he  might  be  strength- 
ened to  bear  this  responsibility,  and  that  the  Messiali 
might  never  seem  to  be  only  of  the  Baptist's  appointing 
and  not  of  God's.  Some  degree  of  disappointment 
may  be  felt  that  external  signs  should  have  intruded 
on  so  profoundly  spiritual  and  real  an  occasion  as  the 
baptism  of  Christ.  Some  may  be  ready  to  ask,  with 
Keim,  "  Is  it,  or  was  it  ever,  the  way  of  God,  in  the 
course  of  His  spiritual  world,  above  all  upon  the 
threshold  of  spiritual  decisions  affecting  the  fate  oi 
the  world,  and  in  contradiction  to  the  wise  econom}* 
of  revelation  pursued  by  His  supreme  ambassador 
Himself,  to  take  away  from  seeking  and  finding  souls 
the  labour  of  deciding  their  own  destiny  ?  "  But  this 
is  to  suppose  that  the  signs  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus 
were  mainly  for  His  encouragement,  whereas  John 
describes  them  as  being  given  for  the  certification  of 
the  Baptist.  "I  knew  Him  not" — that  is,  I  did  not  know 
He  was  the  Messiah — "  but  He  that  sent  me  to  baptize 
with  water,  He  said  unto  me.  Upon  whomsoever  thou 
shalt  see  the  Spirit  descending,  and  abiding  upon  Him, 
the  same  is  He  that  baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Spirit. 
And  I  have  seen,  and  have  borne  witness  that  this  is 
the  Son  of  God." 

The  baptism  of  Jesus  was,  in  fact.  His  anointing  as 
the  Messiah ;  and  this  anointing  by  which  He  became 
the  Christ  was  an  anointing,  not  with  a  symbolic  oil| 


1.6-8,15-34-]       THE  BAPTIST'S   TESTIMONY.  41 

but  with  the  Divine  Spirit  (Acts  x.  38)*.  This  Spirit 
descended  upon  Him  "  in  a  bodily  shape  "  (Luke  iii.  22), 
because  it  was  not  one  member  or  faculty  or  power 
which  was  communicated  to  Jesus,  but  a  whole  body 
or  complete  equipment  of  all  needful  Divine  energies 
for  His  work.  "  God  giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure 
unto  Him ;  "  there  is  no  gauge,  no  metre  checking  the 
supply.  Now  for  the  first  time  can  the  whole  Spirit  be 
given,  because  now  for  the  first  time  in  Jesus  is  there 
room  to  receive  it.  And  that  the  Baptist  may  confi- 
dently proclaim  Him  as  King  the  sign  is  given, — not  the 
outward  sign  alone,  but  the  outward  sign  accompanying 
and  tallying  with  the  inward  sign ;  for  it  was  not  said 
to  the  Baptist,  "  Upon  whomsoever  thou  shalt  see  a 
dove  descend,"  but,  "upon  whomsoever  thou  shalt  see 
the  Spirit  descend." 

This  anointing  of  Jesus  to  the  Messiahship  occurred 
at  the  moment  of  His  truest  identification  of  Himself 
with  the  people.  John  shrank  from  baptizing  One 
whom  he  knew  to  be  already  pure,  and  to  have  no  sins 
to  confess.  But  Jesus  insisted,  identifying  Himself 
with  a  polluted  people,  numbered  with  transgressors.  It 
was  thus  He  became  true  King  and  Head  of  mankind, 
by  identifying  Himself  with  us,  and  taking  upon  Him, 
through  His  universal  sympathy,  all  our  burdens, 
feeling  more  shame  than  the  sinner's  self  for  his  sin, 
pained  with  the  sufiering  in  all  their  pain.  It  was  the 
Divine  Spirit  of  universal  love,  attracting  Him  to  all 
sorrow  and  suffering,  which  identified  Him  in  the  mind 
of  His  first  confessor  as  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 
This  to  the  Baptist  was  the  glory  of  the  Only- begotten, 
this  sympathy  which  felt  with  all,  and  shrank  from  no 
sorrow  or  burden. 

Thus  equipped,  the  Baptist  gives  his  testimony  with 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


confidence.  This  testimony  is  manifold,  and  uttered  on 
several  occasions, — to  the  Sanhedrim's  deputation,  to 
the  people,  and  to  his  own  disciples.  It  is  negative  as 
well  as  positive.  He  repudiates  the  suggestions  of  the 
deputation  from  Jerusalem  that  he  himself  is  the  Christ, 
or  that  he  is  in  their  sense  Elijah.  But  the  most 
remarkable  repudiation  of  honours  which  could  be 
rendered  to  Christ  alone  is  found  recorded  in  chap.  iii. 
22-30,  when  the  growing  popularity  of  Jesus  excited 
the  jealousy  of  those  who  still  adhered  to  the  Baptist. 
Their  complaint  was  the  occasion  of  calling  up  clearly 
in  the  Baptist's  own  consciousness  the  relation  in 
which  he  stood  to  Jesus,  and  of  prompting  the  most 
emphatic  enouncement  of  the  unrivalled  dignity  of 
our  Lord.  He  says  to  his  jealous  disciples,  "  If  I  do 
not  gather  a  crowd  of  followers  while  Jesus  does,  this 
is  because  God  has  appointed  to  me  one  place,  to  Him 
another.  Beyond  God's  design  no  man's  destiny  and 
success  can  extend.  What  is  designed  for  me  I  shall 
receive ;  beyond  that  I  desire  to  receive  and  I  can 
receive  nothing.  Least  of  all  would  I  covet  to  be 
called  the  Christ.  You  know  not  what  you  say  in 
even  remotely  hinting  that  such  a  man  as  I  could  be 
the  Christ.  It  is  no  mere  unworldliness  or  purity 
which  can  raise  a  man  to  this  dignity.  He  is  from 
above ;  not  to  be  named  with  prophets,  but  the  Son  of 
God,  who  belongs  to  the  heavenly  world  of  which  He 
speaks." 

To  make  the  difference  between  himself  and  Christ 
clear,  the  Baptist  hits  upon  the  happy  figure  of  tht; 
Bridegro(  m  and  the  Bridegroom's  friend.  "He  that 
has  and  keeps  the  Bride  is  the  Bridegroom.  He  to 
whom  the  world  is  drawn,  and  on  whom  all  needy  souls 
lean,  is  the  Bridegroom,  and  to  Him  alone  belongs  this 


1.6-8,15-34]      THE  BAPTIST'S   TESTIMONY  43 

special  joy  of  satisfying  all  human  needs.  I  am  not 
the  Bridegroom,  because  men  cannot  find  in  me  satis- 
faction and  rest.  I  cannot  be  to  them  the  source  of 
spiritual  life.  Moreover,  by  instigating  me  to  assume 
the  Bridegroom's  place  you  would  rob  me  of  my  peculiar 
joy,  the  joy  of  the  Bridegroom's  friend."  The  function 
of  the  bridegroom's  friend,  or  paranymph,  was  to  ask 
the  hand  of  the  bride  for  the  bridegroom,  and  to  arrange 
the  marriage.  This  function  the  Baptist  claims  as  his. 
"  My  joy,"  he  says,  '*  is  to  have  negotiated  this  matter, 
to  have  encouraged  the  Bride  to  trust  her  Lord.  It  is 
my  joy  to  hear  the  glad  and  loving  words  that  pass 
between  Bridegroom  and  Bride.  Do  not  suppose  I 
look  with  sadness  on  the  defection  of  my  followers, 
and  on  their  preference  for  Christ.  These  crowds  you 
complain  of  are  evidence  that  I  have  not  discharged 
the  function  of  paranymph  in  vain.  To  see  my  work 
successful,  to  see  Bride  and  Bridegroom  at  length  rest- 
ing in  one  another  with  undisturbed,  self-forgetting 
confidence,  this  is  my  joy.  While  the  Bridegroom 
cheers  the  Bride  with  His  voice,  and  opens  to  her  pro- 
spects which  only  His  love  can  realize,  shall  I  obtrude 
myself  and  claim  consideration  ?  Is  it  not  enough  for 
one  life  to  have  had  the  joy  of  identifying  the  actually 
present  Christ,  and  of  introducing  the  Bride  to  her 
Lord  ?  Has  not  that  life  its  ample  reward  vrhich  has 
been  instrumental  in  achieving  the  actual  union  of  God 
and  man  ?  " 

Probably,  then,  the  Baptist  himself  would  think  we 
waste  too  much  emotion  over  his  self-sacrifice  and 
magnanimity.  After  all,  it  not  being  possible  to  him 
to  be  the  Messiah,  it  was  no  small  glory  and  joy  to  be 
the  friend,  the  next,  to  the  Messiah.  The  tragic  cha- 
racter of  the    Baptist's  death,   the  despondent   doubt 


44  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

which  for  a  time  shook  his  spirit  during  his  imprison- 
ment, the  severe  life  he  had  previously  led,  all  tend 
to  make  us  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  his  life  was 
crowned  with  a  deep  and  solid  joy.  Even  the  poet 
who  has  most  worthily  depicted  him  still  speaks  of 

*'  John,  than  which  man  a  sadder  or  a  greatci 
Not  till  this  day  has  been  of  woman  bom." 

But  the  Baptist  was  a  big  enough  man  to  enjoy  an 
unselfish  happiness.  He  loved  men  so  well  that  he 
rejoiced  when  he  saw  them  forsake  him  to  follow 
Christ.  He  loved  Christ  so  well  that  to  see  Him 
honoured  was  the  crown  of  his  life. 

Besides  this  negative  repudiation  of  honours  that 
belonged  to  Jesus,  the  Baptist  emits  a  positive  and 
fivefold  testimony  in  His  favour,  (i)  to  His  dignity 
(vv.  15,  27,  30),  "He  that  cometh  after  me  is  preferred 
before  me;**  (2)  to  His  pre-existence  (vv.  15,  30), 
which  is  adduced  as  the  reason  of  the  foregoing,  "  for 
He  was  before  me ; "  (3)  to  His  spiritual  fulness  and 
power  (ver.  33),  "  He  baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Ghost; " 
(4)  to  the  efficacy  of  His  mediation  (ver.  29),  "  Behold, 
the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world;"  (5)  to  His  unique  personality  (ver.  34),  "this 
is  the  Son  of  God." 

I.  Three  times  over  the  Baptist  declared  the 
superiority  of  Jesus;  a  superiority  so  immense  that 
language  failed  him  in  trying  to  represent  it.  The 
Rabbis  said,  "  Every  office  which  a  servant  will  do 
for  his  master  a  scholar  should  perform  for  his  teacher, 
except  loosing  his  sandal-thong."  But  this  exception- 
ally menial  office  the  Baptist  declares  he  was  not  worthy 
to  perform  for  Jesus.  None  so  well  as  the  Baptist 
himself  knew  his  limitations.     He  had  evoked  in  the 


i. 6-8, 15-34]      t^H^  BAPTISTS   TESTIMONY.  45 

people  cravings  he  couid  not  satisfy.  There  had 
gathered  to  him  a  conscience-stricken  people,  longing 
for  renewal  and  righteousness,  and  demanding  what 
he  had  no  power  to  give.  Therefore,  not  merely  his 
explicit  enouncements  from  time  to  time,  but  his  entire 
ministry,  pointing  to  a  new  order  of  things  which  he 
himself  could  not  inaugurate,  declared  the  incomparable 
greatness  of  Him  that  was  to  come  after  him. 

2.  This  superiority  of  Christ  was  based  on  His 
pre-existence.  "  He  was  before  me."  It  may  appear 
unaccountable  that  the  Baptist,  standing  on  Old  Testa- 
ment ground,  should  have  reached  the  conclusion  that 
Jesus  was  Divine.  But  it  is  at  any  rate  evident  that 
the  Evangelist  believed  the  Baptist  had  done  so,  for 
he  adduces  the  Baptist's  testimony  in  support  of  his 
own  affirmation  of  the  Divine  glory  of  the  Incarnate 
Word  (ver.  15).  After  the  wonderful  scene  at  the 
Baptism,  John  must  have  talked  closely  with  Jesus 
regarding  both  His  work  and  His  consciousness ;  and 
even  if  the  passage  at  the  close  of  the  third  chapter  is 
coloured  by  the  Evangelist's  style,  and  even  by  his 
thought,  we  must  suppose  that  the  Baptist  had  some- 
how arrived  at  the  belief  that  Jesus  was  "  from  above," 
and  made  known  upon  earth  the  things  which  He,  in 
a  pre-existent  state,  had  "  heard  and  seen." 

3.  The  Baptist  pointed  to  Jesus  as  the  source  of 
spiritual  life.  "  He  baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Here  the  Baptist  steps  on  to  ground  on  which  his 
assertions  can  be  tested.  He  declares  that  Jesus  can 
communicate  the  Holy  Ghost — the  fundamental  article 
of  the  Christian  Creed,  which  carries  with  it  all  else. 
No  one  knew  better  than  the  Baptist  where  human  help 
failed ;  no  one  knew  better  than  he  what  could  be  effected 
by  rites  and  rules,  by  strength  of  will  and  asceticism 


THE   G05PLL   OF  ST.  JUHjN. 


and  human  endeavour;  and  no  one  knew  better  ^ 
what  point  all  these  become  useless.  More  and  more 
they  seemed  to  him  but  a  cleansing  with  water,  a 
washing  of  the  outside.  More  and  more  did  he  under- 
stand that,  not  from  without,  but  from  within,  true 
cleansing  must  proceed,  and  that  all  else,  save  a  new 
creation  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  was  inefficacious.  Only 
Spirit  can  act  upon  spirit;  and  for  true  renewal  we 
need  the  action  upon  us  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  Without 
this  no  new  and  eternal  kingdom  of  God  can  be  founded. 

4.  The  Baptist  pointed  to  Jesus  as  "the  Lamb  of 
God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  That  by 
this  title  he  meant  only  to  designate  Jesus  as  a  person 
full  of  gentleness  and  innocence  is  out  of  the  question. 
The  second  clause  forbids  this.  He  is  the  Lamb  that 
takes  away  sin.  And  there  is  only  one  way  in  which 
a  Iamb  can  take  away  sin,  and  that  is,  by  sacrifice. 
The  expression  no  doubt  suggests  the  picture  in  the 
fifty-third  of  Isaiah  of  the  servant  of  Jehovah  meekly 
enduring  wrong.  But  unless  the  Baptist  had  been 
previously  speaking  of  this  chapter,  the  thoughts  of 
his  disciples  would  not  at  once  turn  to  it,  because  in 
that  passage  it  is  not  a  lamb  of  sacrifice  that  is  spoken 
of,  but  a  lamb  meekly  enduring.  In  the  Baptist's 
words  sacrifice  is  the  primary  idea,  and  it  is  needless 
to  discuss  whether  he  was  thinking  of  the  paschal 
lamb  or  the  lamb  of  morning  and  evening  sacrifice, 
because  he  merely  used  the  lamb  as  the  representative 
of  sacrifice  generally.  Here,  he  says,  is  the  reality  to 
which  all  sacrifice  has  pointed,  the  Lamb  of  God. 

5.  The  Baptist  proclaims  Jesus  as  "the  Son  of 
God"  That  he  should  do  so  need  not  greatly  surprise 
us,  as  we  read  in  the  other  Gospels  that  Jesus  had 
been  thus  designated  by  a  voice  from  heaven  at  Hi» 


•.6^15-34]      THE  BAPTIST'S  TESTIMONY.  47 

baptism.  Very  early  in  His  ministry,  not  only  His 
disciples,  but  also  the  demoniacs  ascribe  to  Him  the 
same  dignity.  In  one  sense  or  other  He  was  designated 
"  Son  of  God."  No  doubt  we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
this  was  in  a  rigidly  monotheistic  community,  and  in 
a  community  in  which  the  same  title  had  been  freely 
applied  to  Israel  and  to  Israel's  king  to  designate  a 
certain  alliance  and  close  relation  subsisting  between 
the  human  and  the  Divine,  but  of  course  not  suggesting 
metaphysical  unity.  But  considering  the  high  functions 
which  clustered  round  the  Messianic  dignity,  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  the  Messiah's  forerunner  may  have  sup- 
posed that  a  fuller  meaning  than  had  yet  been  recognised 
might  be  latent  in  this  title.  Certainly  we  are  safe  in 
affirming  that  by  applying  this  title  to  our  Lord,  the 
Baptist  intended  to  indicate  His  unique  personality, 
and  to  declare  that  He  was  the  Messiah,  God's  Viceroy 
on  earth. 

Whether  we  can  add  to  this  testimony  the  thoughts 
contained  in  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  third  chapter 
may  be  doubted.  The  thought  of  the  passage  moves 
within  the  circle  of  ideas  familiar  to  the  Baptist;  and 
that  the  style  is  the  style  of  the  Evangelist  does  not 
prevent  us  from  receiving  the  ideas  as  the  Baptist's. 
But  there  are  expressions  which  it  is  difficult  to  suppose 
that  the  Baptist  could  have  used.  The  preceding  con- 
versation was  occasioned  by  the  growing  popularity  of 
Jesus;  was  this,  then,  an  occasion  on  which  it  could 
be  said,  "  No  one  receives  His  testimony  "  ?  Is  this 
not  more  appropriate  to  the  Evangelist  than  to  the 
Baptist  ?  It  would  seem,  then,  that  in  this  paragraph 
the  Evangelist  is  expanding  the  Baptist's  testimony, 
in  order  to  indicate  its  application  to  the  eternal  rela- 
tions subsisting  between  Jesus  and  men  generally. 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


The  contents  of  the  paragraph  are  a  most  emphatic 
testimony  to  the  pre-existence  and  heavenly  origin  of 
Christ.  In  contrast  to  persons  of  earthly  origin,  He  is 
"from  heaven."  He  "cometh"  from  above,  as  if  His 
entrance  into  this  world  were  a  conscious  transition, 
a  voluntary  coming  from  another  world.  His  origin 
determines  also  His  moral  relationships  and  His  teach- 
ing. He  is  "  above  all/'  in  dignity,  in  authority,  in 
spirit ;  and  He  speaks  what  He  has  seen  and  heard. 
But  in  the  thirty-fourth  verse  a  new  idea  is  presented. 
There  it  is  said  that  He  speaks  the  words  of  God,  not 
lirectl}',  because  He  is  from  above,  and  speaks  what 
He  has  seen  and  heard,  but  "  because  God  giveth  not 
the  Spirit  by  measure  unto  Him."  What  are  we  to 
understand  by  this  double  Divine  inhabitation  of  the 
humanity  of  Jesus  ?  And  what  are  we  to  understand 
by  the  Spirit  being  given  without  measure  to  the 
Incarnate  Word  ? 

In  the  Old  Testament  two  ideas  present  themselves 
regarding  the  Spirit  which  illustrate  this  statement. 
The  one  is  that  which  conveys  the  impression  that  only 
a  limited  amount  of  spiritual  influence  was  communi- 
cated to  prophetic  men,  and  that  from  them  it  could 
be  conveyed  to  others.  In  Numb.  xi.  17  the  Lord  is 
represented  as  saying  to  Moses,  "I  will  take  of  the 
Spirit  which  is  upon  thee,  and  will  put  it  upon  them ; " 
and  in  2  Kings  ii.  9  Elisha  is  represented  as  praying 
that  the  eldest  horn's  portion,  the  two-thirds  of  Elijah's 
spirit,  might  be  bequeathed  to  him.  The  idea  is  a  true 
and  instructive  one.  The  Spirit  does,  in  point  of  fact, 
pass  from  man  to  man.  It  is  as  if  in  one  receptive 
person  the  Divine  Spirit  found  entrance  through  which 
He  might  pass  to  others.  But  another  idea  is  also 
frequent  in  the  Old  Testament.     The  Spirit  is  spoken 


L6-S;  15-34]      THE  BAPTIST'S  TESTIMONY.  49 

of  rather  as  conferring  a  gift  here  and  a  power  there 
than  as  dwelling  wholly  and  permanently  in  men.  One 
prophet  had  a  dream,  another  a  vision,  a  third  legislated, 
a  fourth  wrote  a  psalm,  a  fifth  founded  an  institution, 
a  sixth  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  smote  the  Philistines, 
or,  like  Samson,  tore  a  lion  in  pieces. 

In  Christ  all  powers  are  combined — power  over 
nature,  power  to  teach,  power  to  reveal,  power  to  legis- 
late. And  as  in  the  Old  Testament  the  Spirit  passed 
from  man  to  man,  so  in  the  New  Testament  Christ  first 
Himself  receives  and  then  communicates  to  all  the 
whole  Spirit  Hence  the  law  noticed  at  a  subsequent 
stage  of  this  Gospel  that  "  the  Spirit  was  not  yet 
given ;  because  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified "  (viL  39). 
We  cannot  see  to  the  bottom  of  the  law,  but  the  fact 
is  apparent,  that  until  Christ  received  into  every  part  of 
His  own  humanity  the  fulness  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
that  Spirit  could  not  fill  with  His  fulness  any  man. 

But  why  was  the  Spirit  needed  in  a  personality  of 
which  the  Word,  who  had  been  with  God  and  known 
God,  was  the  basis  ?  Because  the  humanity  of  Christ 
was  a  true  humanity.  Being  human,  He  must  be  in- 
debted to  the  Spirit  for  all  impartation  to  His  human 
nature  of  what  is  Divine.  The  knowledge  of  God 
which  the  Word  possesses  by  experience  must  be 
humanly  apprehended  before  it  can  be  communicated 
to  men ;  and  this  human  apprehension  can  only  be 
arrived  at  in  the  case  of  Christ  by  the  enlightenment 
of  the  Spirit.  It  was  useless  for  Christ  to  declare  what 
could  not  be  apprehended  by  human  faculty,  and  His 
own  human  faculty  was  the  measure  and  test  of  intel- 
ligibility. By  the  Spirit  He  was  enlightened  to  speak 
of  things  Divine ;  and  this  Spirit,  interposed,  as  it  were, 
between   the  Word  and  the  human   nature  of  Jesus, 

4 


50  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

was  as  little  cumbrous  in  its  operation  or  perceptible 
in  consciousness  as  our  breath  interposed  between  the 
thinking  mind  and  the  words  we  speak  to  declare  our 
mind. 

To  return  to  the  direct  testimony  of  the  Baptist,  we 
must  (l)  acknowledge  its  value.  It  is  the  testimony 
of  a  contemporary,  of  whom  we  know  from  other 
sources  that  he  was  generally  reckoned  a  prophet — a 
man  of  unblemished  and  inviolable  integrity,  of  rugged 
independence,  of  the  keenest  spiritual  discernment. 
There  was  no  man  of  larger  size  or  more  heroic  mould 
in  his  day.  In  any  generation  he  would  have  been 
conspicuous  by  his  spiritual  stature,  his  fearless  un- 
worldliness,  his  superiority  to  the  common  weaknesses 
of  men ;  and  yet  this  man  himself  looks  up  to  Jesus 
as  standing  on  quite  a  different  platform  from  bis  own, 
as  a  Being  of  another  order.  He  can  find  no  expres- 
sions strong  enough  to  mark  the  difference  :  "  I  am  not 
worthy  to  loose  His  shoe  latchet ; "  "  He  that  is  ot  the 
earth "  (that  is,  himself)  "  is  earthly,  and  speaketh  of 
the  earth  :  He  that  cometh  from  heaven  is  above  all." 
He  would  not  have  used  such  expressions  of  Isaiah,  of 
Elijah,  of  Moses.  He  knew  his  own  dignity,  and  would 
not  have  set  so  marked  a  difference  between  himself 
and  any  other  prophet.  But  his  own  very  greatness 
was  precisely  what  revealed  to  him  the  absolute  supe- 
riority of  Christ.  These  crowds  that  gathered  round 
him — what  could  he  do  tor  them  more  than  refer  them 
to  Christ?  Could  he  propose  to  himself  to  found 
among  them  a  kingdom  of  God  ?  Could  he  ask  them 
to  acknowledge  him  and  trust  in  him  for  spiritual  life  ? 
Could  he  promise  them  His  Spirit  ?  Could  he  even 
link  to  himself  all  kinds  of  men,  of  all  nationalities  ? 
Could  he  be  the  light  of  men,  giving  to  all  a  satisfying 


i.  6-8, 15-34.]      THE  BAPTIST'S   TESTIMONY.  $1 

knowledge  of  God  and  of  their  relation  to  Him  ?  No ; 
he  was  not  that  light,  he  could  but  bear  witness  of  that 
light.  And  this  he  did,  by  pointing  men  to  Jesus,  not 
as  a  brother  prophet,  not  as  another  great  man,  but 
as  the  Son  of  God,  as  One  who  had  come  down  from 
heaven. 

It  is,  I  say,  impossible  that  we  can  make  nothing  of 
such  a  testimony.  Here  was  one  who  knew,  if  any 
man  ever  did,  spotless  holiness  when  he  saw  it ;  who 
knew  what  human  strength  and  courage  could  accom- 
plish ;  who  was  himself  certainly  among  the  six  greatest 
men  the  world  has  seen ;  and  this  man,  standing  thus 
on  the  highest  altitudes  human  nature  can  reach,  looks 
up  to  Christ,  and  does  not  only  admit  His  superiority, 
but  shrinks,  as  from  something  blasphemous,  from  all 
comparison  with  Him.  What  is  the  flaw  in  his  testi- 
mony, or  why  are  we  not  accepting  Christ  as  our 
light,  as  able  to  take  away  our  sins,  as  willing  to 
baptize  us  with  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 

But  (2)  even  such  testimony  as  John's  is  not  sufficient 
of  itself  to  carry  conviction  to  the  reluctant.  None 
knew  better  than  John's  contemporaries  that  he  was 
a  true  man,  not  liable  to  make  mistakes  in  a  matter 
of  this  kind.  And  his  testimony  to  Christ  did  stagger 
them,  and  often  held  them  in  check,  and  no  doubt  threw 
a  kind  of  undefined  awe  over  the  person  of  Christ ; 
but,  after  all,  not  many  believed  on  account  of  John's 
testimony,  and  those  who  did  were  not  influenced 
solely  by  his  testimony,  but  by  his  work  as  well. 
They  had  become  concerned  about  sin,  sensitive  to 
defilement  and  failure,  and  were  thus  prepared  to 
appreciate  the  offers  of  Christ.  The  two  voices  chimed, 
John's  voice  saying,  "  Behold,  the  Lamb  of  God  !"  the 
voice  of  their  own  conscience   crying  for  the  taking 


Sa  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

away  of  sin.  It  is  so  still.  The  sense  of  sin,  the 
feeling  of  spiritual  weakness  and  need,  the  craving  for 
God,  direct  the  eye,  and  enable  us  to  see  in  Christ 
what  we  do  not  otherwise  see.  We  are  not  likely  to 
know  Christ  until  we  know  ourselves.  What  is  the 
man's  judgment  regarding  Christ  worth  who  is  not 
conscious  of  his  own  littleness  and  humbled  by  his 
own  guilt?  Let  a  man  first  go  to  school  with  the 
Baptist,  let  him  catch  something  of  his  unworldliness 
and  earnestness,  let  him  become  alive  to  his  own  short- 
comings by  at  last  beginning  to  strive  after  the  highest 
things  in  life,  and  by  seeking  to  live,  not  for  pleasure, 
but  for  God,  and  his  views  of  Christ  and  his  relation 
to  Him  will  become  satisfactory  and  true 


IV. 

THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES. 


S3 


'*  Again  on  the  morrow  John  was  standing,  and  two  of  his  disciples ; 
and  he  looked  upon  Jesus  as  He  walked,  and  saith,  Behold,  the  Lamb 
of  God  I  And  the  two  disciples  heard  him  speak,  and  they  followed 
Jesus.  And  Jesus  turned,  and  beheld  them  following,  and  saith  unto 
them,  What  seek  ye  ?  And  they  said  unto  Him,  Rabbi  (which  is  to  say, 
being  interpreted.  Master),  where  abidest  Thou  ?  He  saith  unto  them, 
Come,  and  ye  shall  see.  They  came  therefore  and  saw  where  He  abode ; 
and  they  abode  with  Him  that  day  :  it  was  about  the  tenth  hour.  One 
of  the  two  that  heard  John  speak,  and  followed  Him,  was  Andrew, 
Simon  Peter's  brother.  He  findeth  first  his  own  brother  Simon,  and 
saith  unto  him,  We  have  found  the  Messiah  (which  is,  being  interpreted, 
Christ).  He  brought  him  unto  Jesus.  Jesus  looked  upon  him,  and 
said.  Thou  art  Simon  the  son  of  John :  thou  shalt  be  called  Cephas 
(which  is  by  interpretation,  Peter).  On  the  morrow  he  was  minded  to 
go  forth  into  Galilee,  and  he  findeth  Philip  :  and  Jesus  saith  unto  him. 
Follow  Me.  Now  Philip  was  from  Bethsaida,  of  the  city  of  Andrew 
and  Peter.  Philip  fiadeth  Nathanael,  and  saith  unto  him,  We  have 
found  Him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets,  did  write, 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph.  And  Nathanael  said  unto  him, 
Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  Philip  saith  unto  him, 
Come  and  see.  Jesus  saw  Nathanael  coming  to  Him,  and  saith  of  him, 
Behold,  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile  !  Nathanael  saith 
unto  Him,  Whence  knowest  thou  me  ?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
him.  Before  Philip  called  thee,  when  thou  wast  under  the  fig  tree,  I 
saw  thee.  Nathanael  answered  him.  Rabbi,  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God ; 
Thou  art  King  of  Israel.  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Because  I 
said  unto  thee,  I  saw  thee  underneath  the  fig  tree,  believest  thou? 
thou  shalt  see  greater  things  than  these.  And  He  saith  unto  him. 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Ye  shall  see  the  heaven  opened,  and  the 
angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon  the  Son  of  man." — JOHM 
i-  3S-SI. 


rv. 

THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES, 

IN  the  prosecution  of  his  purpose  to  tell  how  the 
Incarnate  Word  manifested  His  glory  to  men,  John 
proceeds  to  give  one  or  two  instances  of  the  eagerness 
with  which  prepared  souls  welcomed  Him,  and  of  the 
instinctive  perception  with  which  true  and  open  minds 
confessed  Him  Son  of  God  and  King  of  Israel.  This 
paragraph  is  the  continuation  of  that  which  begins  at 
ver.  19  with  the  general  title,  "This  is  the  v/itness  of 
John."  We  are  now  introduced  to  some  of  the  results 
of  John's  witness,  and  are  shown  that  Christ  is  King, 
not  only  by  official  proclamation,  but  by  the  free  choice 
of  men.  These  instances  here  cited  are  but  the  first 
among  countless  numbers  who  in  every  generation 
have  felt  and  owned  the  majesty  of  Christ,  and  who 
have  felt  irresistibly  drawn  to  Him  by  a  unique  affinity. 
In  the  spell  which  His  personality  laid  upon  these 
first  disciples,  in  the  uninvited  yet  cordial  and  assured 
acknowledgments  of  His  dignity  which  they  felt  drawn 
to  make,  we  see  much  that  is  significant  and  illustrative 
of  the  allegiance  He  evokes  from  age  to  age  in  humble 
and  open-minded  men. 

In  proceeding  to  gather  to  Himself  subjects  who 
might  enter  into  His  purposes  and  loyally  serve  Him, 
Jesus  shows  a  singularly  many-sided  adaptability  and 

55 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


inexhaustible  originality  in  dealing  with  men.  Each  of 
the  five  disciples  here  introduced  is  individually  dealt 
with.  "  The  finding  of  the  one  was  not  the  finding  of 
the  other.  For  John  and  Andrew  there  was  the  talk 
with  Jesus  through  the  hours  of  that  never-to-be- 
forgotten  evening;  for  Simon,  the  heart-searching 
word,  convincing  him  he  was  known  and  his  future 
read  off;  for  Philip,  a  peremptory  command;  and  for 
Nathanael,  a  gracious  courtesy  disarming  him  of  pre- 
judice, assuring  him  of  a  perfect  sympathy  in  the 
breast  of  the  Lord.  Thus  there  are  those  who  seek 
Christ,  those  who  are  brought  by  others  to  Christ, 
those  whom  Christ  seeks  for  Himself,  those  who  come 
without  doubts,  and  those  who  come  with  doubts."  * 

The  two  men  who  enjoyed  the  signal  distinction  of 
leading  the  way  in  owning  the  majesty  and  attaching 
themselves  to  the  person  of  Christ  were  Andrew  and 
probably  John  who  wrote  this  Gospel.  The  writer, 
indeed,  does  not  name  himself,  but  this  is  in  accordance 
with  his  habit.  The  suppression  of  the  name  is  an 
indication  that  he  himself  was  the  disciple  spoken  of, 
since  had  it  been  another  he  could  have  had  no  scruple 
in  mentioning  his  name.  We  know  also  that  the 
families  of  Zebedee  and  Jonah  were  partners  in  trade, 
and  it  was  likely  that  the  young  men  of  the  families 
would  go  in  company  to  visit  the  Baptist  when  the 
fishing  was  slack.  These  two  young  men  had  already 
attached  themselves  to  the  Baptist;  had  not  merely 
passed  through  the  fashionable  ceremony  of  baptism, 
and  returned  home  to  talk  about  it,  but  were  laid  hold 
of  by  John's  teaching  and  character,  and  had  resolved  to 
wait  with  him  till  the  predicted  Deliverer  should  appear. 

■  See  Mr.  Keith's  rich  Handbook  on  Tlie  Gospel  of  John  (Clark), 


>.3S-5>-l  THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES.  57 

And  at  length  the  day  came  when  the  master  whom 
they  trusted  as  God's  prophet  suddenly  checked  them 
in  their  walk,  laid  his  hand  breathlessly  upon  them,  and 
gazing  at  a  passing  figure,  said,  "  Behold,  the  Lamb  of 
God  I "  There  in  actual  bodily  presence  was  He  for 
whom  all  ages  of  their  people  had  longed ;  there  within 
sound  of  their  voice  was  He  who  could  take  away  their 
sin,  lift  off  the  burden  and  the  trouble  of  life,  and  let 
them  know  the  blessedness  of  living.  We  are  ever 
ready  to  think  it  was  easy  for  those  who  saw  Christ 
to  follow  Him.  Could  we  read  His  sympathy  and 
truthfulness  in  His  face,  could  we  hear  His  words 
addressed  directly  to  ourselves,  could  we  ask  our  own 
questions  and  have  from  Him  personal  guidance,  we 
fancy  faith  would  be  easy.  And  no  doubt  there  is  a 
greater  benediction  pronounced  on  those  who  "  have 
not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed."  Still,  the  advantage 
is  not  wholly  theirs  who  saw  the  Lord  growing  up 
among  other  boys,  learning  His  trade  with  ordinary 
lads,  clothed  in  the  dress  of  a  working  man.  The 
brothers  of  Jesus  found  it  hard  to  believe.  Besides,  in 
giving  the  allegiance  of  the  Spirit,  and  forming  eternal 
alliance,  it  is  well  that  the  true  affinities  of  our  spirit 
be  not  disturbed  by  material  and  sensible  appearances.  '■ 

These  two  men,  however,  felt  the  spell,  and  "  followed 
Jesus " — representatives  of  all  those  who,  scarcely 
knowing  what  they  do  or  what  they  intend,  are  yet 
drawn  by  a  mysterious  attraction  to  keep  within  sight 
of  Him  of  whom  they  have  ever  been  hearing,  and 
whom  all  ages  have  sought,  but  who  now  for  the  first 
time  stands  clear  before  their  sight.  Without  a  word 
to  their  teacher  or  to  one  another,  silent  with  wonder 
and  excitement,  they  eagerly  follow  the  passing  figure. 
So  does  enquiry  begin  with  many  a  soul.     He  who  is 


58  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

much  spoken  of  by  all,  but  of  whom  few  have  personal 
knowledge,  suddenly  assumes  a  reality  they  scarcely 
were  looking  for.  It  is  no  longer  the  hearing  of  the 
ear,  but  now,  whispers  the  soul,  mine  eye  seeth  Him. 
The  soul  for  the  first  time  feels  as  if  some  action  were 
demanded  of  it ;  it  can  no  longer  just  sit  and  listen  to 
descriptions  of  Christ,  it  must  arise  on  its  own  account, 
and  for  itself  seek  further  knowledge  of  this  unique 
Person. 

"Then  Jesus  turned  amd  saw  them  following,"— 
turned  probably  because  He  heard  them  following,  for 
He  suffers  none  to  follow  in  vain.  Sometimes  it  may 
seem  as  if  He  did ;  sometimes  it  may  seem  as  if  the 
best  years  of  life  were  spent  in  following,  and  all  to 
no  purpose.  It  is  not  so.  If  some  have  spent  years 
in  following,  and  cannot  yet  say  that  Christ  has  turned 
and  made  them  conscious  that  He  is  responding  to 
their  search,  this  is  because  in  their  path  lie  many 
obstacles,  all  of  which  must  be  thoroughly  cleared  away. 
And  no  man  should  grudge  the  time  and  the  toil  that 
is  spent  on  honestly  clearing  away  whatever  prevents 
a  perfect  cohesion  to  this  eternal  Friend. 

The  question  put  by  Jesus  to  the  following  disciples, 
"  What  seek  ye  ?  "  was  the  first  breath  of  the  winnow- 
ing fan  which  the  Baptist  had  warned  them  the  Messiah 
would  use.  It  was  not  the  gruff  interrogation  of  one 
who  would  not  have  his  retirement  invaded,  nor  his 
own  thoughts  interrupted,  but  a  kindly  invitation  to 
open  their  minds  to  Him.  It  was  meant  to  help  them 
to  understand  their  own  purposes,  and  to  ascertain 
what  they  expected  in  following  Jesus.  "  What  seek 
ye  ? "  Have  you  any  object  deeper  than  mere  curi- 
osity ?  For  Christ  desires  to  be  followed  intelligently, 
pr  not  at  all.     At  all  times  He  used  the  winnowing  fan 


i-3S-S>)  7H£  FIRST  DISCIPLES.  59 

to  blow  away  the  chaff  of  the  great  crowds  that  followed 
Him,  and  leave  the  few  immovably  resolute  souls.  So 
many  follow  because  a  crowd  streams  after  Him  and 
carries  them  with  it;  so  many  follow  because  it  is  a 
fashion,  and  they  have  no  opinion  of  their  own;  so 
many  follow  experimentally,  and  drop  off  at  the  first 
difficulty ;  so  many  follow  under  misapprehension,  and 
with  mistaken  expectations.  Some  who  came  to  Him 
with  great  expectations  left  in  shame  and  sorrow ; 
some  who  thought  to  make  use  of  Him  for  party  ends 
left  Him  in  anger  when  they  found  themselves  un- 
masked; and  one  who  thought  skilfully  to  use  Him 
for  the  gratification  of  His  own  selfish  worldliness, 
discovered  that  there  was  no  surer  path  to  eternal  ruin. 
Christ  turns  away  none  for  mere  slowness  in  appre- 
hending what  He  is  and  what  He  does  for  sinful  men. 
But  by  this  question  He  reminds  us  that  the  vague 
and  mysterious  attraction  which,  like  a  hidden  magnet, 
draws  men  to  Him,  must  be  exchanged  for  a  clear 
understanding  at  least  of  what  we  ourselves  need  and 
expect  to  receive  from  Him.  He  will  turn  from  none 
who,  in  response  to  His  question,  can  truly  say,  We 
seek  God,  we  seek  holiness,  we  seek  service  with  Thee, 
we  seek  Thyself. 

The  answer  which  these  men  returned  to  the  question 
of  Jesus  was  the  answer  of  men  who  scarce  knew  theii 
own  minds,  and  were  suddenly  confused  by  being  thus 
addressed.  They  therefore  reply,  as  men  thus  con- 
fused commonly  reply,  by  asking  another  question, 
"  Rabbi,  where  dwellest  Thou  ?  "  Their  concern  was 
about  Him,  and  so  far  the  answer  was  good;  but  it 
implied  that  they  were  willing  to  leave  Him  with  only 
such  information  as  might  enable  them  to  visit  Him  at 
■ome  future  time,  and  so  far  the  answer  was  not  the 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


best.  Still  their  shyness  was  natural,  and  not  without 
reason.  They  had  felt  how  the  Baptist  searched  their 
soul,  and  of  this  new  Teacher  the  Baptist  himself  had 
said  he  was  not  worthy  to  loose  his  sandal-thong.  To 
find  themselves  face  to  face  with  this  greatest  person, 
the  Messiah,  was  a  trying  experience  indeed.  The 
danger  at  this  point  is  hesitation.  Many  persons  fail 
at  this  point  from  a  native  reluctance  to  commit  them- 
selves, to  feel  pledged,  to  accept  permanent  responsi- 
bilities and  bind  themselves  with  indissoluble  ties. 
They  are  past  the  stage  of  merely  keeping  Christ  in 
view,  but  very  little  past  it.  The  closer  dealings  they 
have  had  with  Him  have  as  yet  led  to  nothing.  Their 
fate  hangs  in  the  balance. 

Out  of  this  condition  our  Lord  delivers  these  two 
men  by  His  irresistible  invitation,  "Come  and  see." 
And  well  for  them  it  was  that  He  did  so,  for  next  day 
He  left  that  part  of  the  country,  and  the  mere  knowledge 
of  His  lodging  by  the  Jordan  would  have  availed  them 
nothing ;  a  warning  to  all  who  put  themselves  off  with 
learning  more  about  salvation  before  they  accept  it. 
An  eagerness  in  acquiring  knowledge  about  Christ  may 
as  effectually  as  any  other  pursuit  retard  us  in  making 
acquaintance  with  Him.  It  is  mere  trifling  to  be  always 
enquiring  about  One  who  is  Himself  with  us ;  the  way 
to  secure  that  we  shall  have  Him  when  we  need  Him 
is  to  go  with  Him  now.  How  can  we  expect  our 
difficulties  to  be  removed  while  we  do  not  adopt  the 
one  method  God  recognises  as  effectual  for  this  purpose, 
fellowship  with  Christ  ?  Why  enquire  longer  about  the 
way  of  salvation,  and  where  we  may  find  it  at  a  future 
time  ?  Christ  offers  His  friendship  now,  "  Come  with 
Me,  now,"  He  says,  **  and  for  yourself  enter  My  dwell- 
ing as  a  welcome  friend."     Can  the  friendship  of  Christ 


••3S-S«-]  THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES.  «! 

do  us  harm,  or  retard  us  in  any  good  thing  ?  May  we 
not  most  reasonably  fear  that  hesitation  now  may  put 
Christ  beyond  our  reach  ?  We  cannot  tell  what  new 
influences  may  enter  our  life  and  set  an  impassable 
gulf  between  us  and  religion. 

Sixty  years  after,  when  one  of  these  men  wrote  this 
Gospel,  he  remembered  as  if  it  had  been  yesterday  the 
very  hour  of  the  day  when  he  followed  Jesus  into  His 
house.  His  whole  life  seemed  to  date  from  that  hour ; 
as  well  it  might,  for  what  could  mark  a  human  life 
more  deeply  and  lift  it  more  surely  to  permanent 
altitude  than  an  evening  with  Jesus?  They  felt  that 
at  last  they  had  found  a  Friend  with  human  sympathies 
and  Divine  intelligence.  How  eagerly  must  these  men 
who  had  of  late  been  thinking  much  of  new  problems, 
have  laid  all  their  difficulties  before  this  master-mind, 
that  seemed  at  once  to  comprehend  all  truth,  and  to 
appreciate  the  little  obstacles  that  staggered  them. 
What  boundless  regions  of  thought  would  His  questions 
open  up,  and  how  entirely  new  an  aspect  would  life 
assume  under  the  light  He  shed  upon  it. 

The  astonished  satisfaction  they  found  in  their  first 
intercourse  with  Christ  is  shown  in  the  bursting 
enthusiasm  with  which  Andrew  sought  out  his  brother 
Simon,  and  summarily  announced,  "We  have  found 
the  Christ."  That  is  how  the  Gospel  is  propagated. 
The  closer  the  tie,  the  more  emphatic  the  testimony. 
It  is  what  brother  says  to  brother,  husband  to  wife, 
parent  to  child,  friend  to  friend,  far  more  than  what 
preacher  says  to  hearer,  that  carries  in  it  irresistible 
persuasive  power.  When  the  truth  of  the  utterance 
is  vouched  for  by  the  obvious  gladness  and  purity  of 
the  life ;  when  the  finding  of  the  Christ  is  obviously  as 
real  as  the  finding  of  a  better  situation  and  as  satisfying 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


as  promotion  in  life,  then  conviction  will  be  carried 
with  the  announcement.  And  he  who,  like  Andrew, 
can  do  little  himself,  may,  by  his  simple  testimony  and 
honest  life,  bring  to  Christ  a  Simon  who  may  become 
a  conspicuous  power  for  good.  The  mother  whose 
influence  is  confined  to  the  four  walls  of  her  own  house 
may  lodge  Christian  principle  in  the  heart  of  a  son, 
who  may  give  it  currency  in  one  form  or  other  to  the 
remotest  corner  of  the  earth. 

The  language  in  which  Andrew  announced  to  Simon 
his  great  fortune  was  simple,  but,  in  Jewish  lips,  most 
pregnant.  "  We  have  found  the  Christ ! "  What  his 
people  had  lived  and  longed  for  through  all  past  ages, 
**  /  have  found  "  and  known.  The  perfect  deliverance 
and  joy  which  God  was  to  bring  by  dwelling  with  His 
people,  this  at  last  had  come.  Taught  to  believe  that 
all  evil  and  disappointment  and  thwarting  were  but 
temporary,  the  Jew  had  waited  for  the  true  life  of  man 
— a  life  in  the  presence  and  favour  and  fellowship  of 
the  Highest.  This  was  to  come  in  the  Messiah,  and 
Andrew  had  found  this.  He  had  entered  into  life — all 
darkness  and  shadow  were  gone;  the  light  shone 
round  him,  making  all  things  bright,  and  piercing  into 
eternity  with  clear  radiance. 

The  words  with  which  Jesus  welcomes  Simon  are 
remarkable :  "  Thou  art  Simon,  son  of  John :  thou  shall 
be  called  Cephas."  This  greeting  yields  its  meaning 
when  we  recall  the  character  of  the  person  addressed. 
Simon  was  hot-headed,  impulsive,  rash,  unstable. 
When  his  name  was  mentioned  on  the  Lake  of  Galilee 
there  rose  before  the  mind  a  man  of  generous  nature, 
frank  and  good-hearted,  but  a  man  whose  uncertainty 
and  hastiness  had  brought  him  and  his  into  many 
troubles,  and  with  whom,  perhaps,  it  was  well  to  have 


»  3S-SI-)  THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES.  63 

no  very  binding  connection  in  trade  or  in  the  family 
What  must  the  thoughts  of  such  a  man  have  been  when 
he  was  told  that  the  Messiah  was  present,  and  that 
the  Messianic  kingdom  was  standing  with  open  gates  ? 
Must  he  not  have  felt  that  this  might  concern  others, 
— decent  steady  men  like  Andrew, — but  not  himself? 
Must  he  not  have  felt  that  instead  of  being  a  strength 
to  the  new  kingdom  he  would  prove  a  weakness  ? 
Would  not  that  happen  now  which  so  often  before  had 
happened — that  any  society  he  joined  he  was  sure  to 
injure  with  his  hasty  tongue  or  rash  hand  ?  Other 
men  might  enter  the  kingdom  and  serve  it  well,  but 
he  must  remain  without. 

Coming  in  this  mood,  he  is  greeted  with  words  which 
seem  to  say  to  him,  I  know  the  character  identified 
with  the  name  "  Simon,  son  of  John  ;  "  I  know  all  you 
fear,  all  the  remorseful  thoughts  that  possess  you;  I 
know  how  you  wish  now  you  were  a  man  like  Andrew, 
and  could  offer  yourself  as  a  serviceable  subject  of  this 
new  kingdom.  But  no  I  thou  art  Simon ;  nothing 
can  change  that,  and  such  as  you  are  you  are  welcome ; 
but  "  thou  shalt  be  called  Rock,"  Peter.  The  men 
standing  round,  and  knowing  Simon  well,  might  turn 
away  to  hide  a  smile ;  but  Simon  knew  the  Lord  had 
found  him,  and  uttered  the  very  word  which  could 
bind  him  for  ever  to  Him.  And  the  event  showed 
how  true  this  appellation  was.  Simon  became  Peter, — 
bold  to  stand  for  the  rest,  and  beard  the  Sanhedrim. 
By  believing  that  this  new  King  had  a  place  for  him 
in  His  kingdom,  and  could  give  him  a  new  character 
which  should  fit  him  for  service,  he  became  a  new  man, 
strong  where  he  had  been  weak,  helpful  and  no  longer 
dangerous  to  the  cause  he  loved. 

Such  are  the  encouragements  with  which  the  King 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


of  men  welcomes  the  diffident  He  gives  men  the 
consciousness  that  they  are  known ;  He  begets  the 
consciousness  that  it  is  not  with  sin  in  the  abstract 
He  takes  to  do,  but  with  sinners  He  can  name,  and 
whose  weaknesses  are  known  to  Him.  But  He  begets 
this  consciousness  that  we  may  trust  Him  when  He 
gives  us  assurance  that  a  new  character  awaits  us  and 
a  serviceable  place  in  His  kingdom.  He  assures  the 
most  despondent  that  for  them  also  a  useful  life  is 
possible. 

As  Andrew,  in  the  exuberant  joy  of  his  discovery  of 
the  Messiah,  had  first  imparted  the  news  to  his  own 
brother  Simon,  so  Philip,  when  invited  by  Jesus  to 
accompany  him  to  Galilee,  sought  to  bring  with  him 
his  friend  Nathanael  Bartholomew  (son  of  Tolmai). 
This  was  one  of  the  devout  Jews  who  had  long  been 
wondering  who  that  mysterious  Personage  should  be 
of  whom  all  the  prophets  had  spoken,  and  for  whom 
the  world  waited  that  He  might  complete  it.  The 
news  that  He  was  found  seemed  onl>  too  good  to  be 
true.  He  had  come  too  easily  and  unostentatiously,  and 
from  so  unlooked-for  a  quarter.  "  Can  any  good  come 
out  of  Nazareth  ?  "  Good  men,  as  well  aS,  others,  have 
their  narrow  views  and  illiberal  prejudices,  and  mark 
off"  in  their  own  minds  as  hopeless  and  barren  whole 
religions,  sects,  or  countries  out  of  which  God  deter- 
mines to  bring  that  which  is  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations.  To  rise  above  such  prejudices  we  must  refuse 
to  accept  current  rumours,  traditional  opinions,  pro- 
verbial or  neat  dicta  which  seem  to  settle  a  matter ; 
we  must  conscientiously  examine  for  ourselves, — as 
Philip  says,  "  Come  and  see."  He  instinctively  knew 
how  useless  it  was  to  reason  with  men  about  Christ's 
claims  so  long  as  they  were  not  in  His  presence.     One 


*-35-S».l  THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES.  65 


look,  one  word  from  Himself  will  go  further  to  persuade 
a  man  of  His  majesty  and  love  than  all  that  any  one 
else  can  say.  To  make  Christ  known  is  the  best  way 
to  prove  the  truth  of  Christianity. 

The  shade  of  the  fig-tree  is  the  natural  summer- 
house  or  arbour  under  which  Eastern  families  delight 
to  take  their  meals  or  their  mid-day  rest.  Nathanael 
had  used  the  dense  foliage  of  its  large  and  thick  leaves 
as  a  screen  behind  which  he  found  retirement  for 
devotional  purposes.  It  is  in  such  absolute  seclusion, 
retirement,  and  solitude  that  a  man  shows  his  true 
self.  It  was  here  Nathanael  had  uttered  himself  to 
his  Father  who  seeth  in  secret ;  here  he  had  found 
liberty  to  pour  out  his  true  and  deepest  cravings. 
His  guilelessness  had  been  proved  by  his  carrying  into 
his  retirement  the  same  simple  and  unreserved  godli- 
ness he  professed  abroad.  And  he  is  astonished  to 
find  that  the  eye  of  Jesus  had  penetrated  this  leafy  veil, 
and  had  been  a  witness  to  his  prayers  and  vows.  He 
feels  that  he  is  known  best  at  the  very  point  in  which 
he  had  most  carefully  contrived  concealment,  and  he 
recognises  that  no  one  is  more  likely  to  be  the  fulfiller 
of  his  prayers  than  that  same  Person  who  has  mani- 
festly been  somehow  present  at  them  and  heard  them. 

To  the  man  of  prayer  a  suitable  promise  is  given, 
as  to  the  man  of  uncertain  character  a  promise  fitting 
his  need  had  come.  Under  his  fig-tree  Nathanael  had 
often  been  in  sympathy  with  his  forefather  Jacob  in 
his  great  experience  of  God's  attentiveness  to  prayer. 
When  Jacob  fled  from  home  and  country,  a  criminal 
and  outcast,  he  no  doubt  felt  how  completely  he  had 
himself  fallen  into  the  pit  he  had  digged.  Instead 
of  the  comforts  of  a  well-provided  household,  he  had 
to  lie  down  like  a  wild  beast  with  nothing  between 

5 


66  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

him  and  the  earth,  with  nothing  between  him  and 
the  sky,  with  nothing  but  an  evil  conscience  to  speak 
to  him,  and  no  face  near  save  the  haunting  faces  of 
thost  he  had  wronged.  A  more  miserable,  remorse- 
ful, abandoned-looking  creature  rarely  lay  down  to 
sleep ;  but  before  he  rose  he  had  learned  that  God 
knew  where  he  was,  and  was  with  him  ;  that  on  that 
spot  which  he  had  chosen  as  a  hiding,  because  no  one 
could  find  him,  and  scarcely  his  own  dog  track  him 
to  it,  he  was  waited  for  and  met  with  a  loving 
welcome  by  Him  whom  he  had  chiefly  wronged.  He 
saw  heaven  opened,  and  that  from  the  lowest,  most 
forlorn  spot  of  earth  to  the  highest  and  brightest  point 
of  heaven  there  is  a  close  connection  and  an  easy, 
friendly  communication.  If  Jesus,  thought  Nathanael, 
could  reopen  heaven  in  that  style.  He  would  be  worthy 
of  the  name  of  King  of  Israel.  But  he  is  now  to 
learn  that  He  will  do  far  more  ;  that  henceforth  it  was 
to  be  no  visionary  ladder,  swept  away  by  the  dawn, 
which  was  to  lead  up  to  heaven,  but  that  in  Jesus  God 
Himself  is  permanently  made  over  to  us;  that  He, 
in  His  one,  visible  person,  unites  heaven  and  earth, 
God  and  man ;  that  there  is  an  ever-living  union 
between  the  highest  height  of  heaven  and  the  lowest 
depth  of  earth.  Profound  and  wide  as  the  humanity 
of  Christ,  to  the  most  forgotten  and  remote  outcast, 
to  the  most  sunken  and  despairing  of  men,  do  God's 
love  and  care  and  helpfulness  now  come ;  high  and 
glorious  as  the  divinity  of  Christ  may  the  hopes  of  all 
men  now  rise.  He  who  understands  the  Incarnation 
of  the  Son  of  God  has  a  surer  ground  of  faith,  and  a 
richer  hope  and  a  straighter  access  to  heaven,  than  if 
the  ladder  of  Jacob  stood  at  his  bed-head  and  God's 
angels  were  ministering  to  him. 


V. 

tUE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CANA, 


**  And  the  third  day  there  was  a  marriage  in  Cans  of  Galilee  ;  and 
the  mother  of  Jesus  was  there :  and  Jesus  also  was  bidden,  and  His 
disciples,  to  the  marriage.  And  when  the  wine  failed,  the  mother  of 
Jesus  saith  unto  Him,  They  have  no  wine.  And  Jesus  saith  unto  her, 
Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with  thee?  Mine  hour  is  not  yet  come. 
His  mother  saith  unto  the  servants.  Whatsoever  He  saith  unto  you,  do 
t.  Now  there  were  six  waterpots  of  stone  set  there  after  the  Jews' 
manner  of  purifying,  containing  two  or  three  firkins  apiece.  Jesus 
saith  unto  them,  Fill  the  waterpots  with  water.  And  they  filled  them 
up  to  the  brim.  And  He  saith  unto  them,  Draw  out  now,  and  bear 
unto  the  ruler  of  the  feast.  And  they  bare  iL  And  when  the  ruler  of 
the  feast  tasted  the  water  now  become  wmn,  and  knew  not  whence  it 
was  (but  the  servants  which  had  drawn  the  water  knew),  the  ruler  of 
the  feast  calleth  the  bridegroom,  and  saith  unto  him.  Every  man  setteth 
on  first  the  good  wine ;  and  when  men  have  drupk  freely,  then  that 
which  is  worse :  thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine  until  now.  This 
beginning  of  His  signs  did  Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  '>pd  manifested 
His  glory;  and  His  disciples  believed  on  Him." — John  ii.  i-ii. 


6S 


V. 

THE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CANA. 

HAVING  recorded  the  testimony  borne  to  Jesus 
by  the  Baptist,  and  having  cited  instances  in 
which  the  overmastering  personality  of  Jesus  elicited 
from  simple-hearted  and  godly  men  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  His  majesty,  John  now  proceeds  to  relate  the 
homely  incident  which  gave  occasion  to  the  first  public 
act  in  which  His  greatness  was  exhibited.  Testimony 
comes  first ;  inward  and  intuitive  recognition  of  the 
greatness  declared  by  that  testimony  second ;  percep- 
tion that  His  works  are  beyond  the  reach  of  human 
power  comes  last.  But  in  the  case  of  these  first 
disciples,  while  this  order  was  indeed  maintained,  there 
was  no  great  interval  between  each  step  in  it.  It  was 
but  the  "  third  day "  after  they  had  in  their  hearts  felt 
His  impressiveness  that  He  "manifested  forth  His 
glory"  to  them  in  this  first  sign. 

From  the  place  where  they  first  met  Him  to  Cana 
of  Galilee  was  a  distance  of  twenty-one  or  twenty-two 
miles.^  Thither  Jesus  repaired  to  be  present  at  a 
marriage.     His  mother  was  already  there,  and  when 

'  Modem  topography  inclines  to  identify  this  Cana,  not,  ai  fofaacrlj, 
with  Kafr-Kenna,  but  with  Kanet-el-Jelil,  some  six  miles  N.B.  of 
Nazareth.  It  is  called  Cana  of  Galilee  to  distinguish  it  iioiB  GuM  is 
Asher,  S.E.  from  Tyre  (Joshua  xix.  28). 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


Jesus  arrived,  accompanied  by  His  new-found  friends, 
all  were  invited  to  remain  and  share  in  the  festivities. 
Owing  probably  to  this  unexpected  increase  to  the 
number  of  the  guests,  the  wine  begins  to  fail.  Among 
the  minor  trials  of  life  there  are  few  which  produce 
more  awkwardness  than  the  failure  to  provide  suitable 
entertainment  for  a  specially  festive  occasion.  Mary, 
with  the  practised  eye  of  a  woman  whose  business  it 
was  to  observe  such  matters,  and  perhaps  with  a  near 
relative's  charge  and  liberty  in  the  house,  perceives 
the  predicament  and  whispers  to  her  Son,  "  They  have 
no  wine."  This  she  said,  not  to  hint  that  Jesus  would 
do  well  to  retire  with  His  too  many  friends,  nor  that 
He  would  cover  the  lack  of  wine  by  brilliant  conver- 
sation, but  because  she  had  ever  been  accustomed  to 
turn  to  this  Son  in  all  her  difficulties,  and  now  that 
she  sees  Him  acknowledged  by  others  her  own  faith 
in  Him  is  stimulated. 

Considering  the  simple  manner  in  which  He  had 
walked  in,  and  taken  His  place  among  the  other  guests, 
and  partaken  of  the  refreshment,  and  joined  in  the 
conversation  and  mirth  of  the  day,  it  would  seem  more 
likely  that  she  should  have  had  no  definite  expectation 
as  to  the  way  in  which  He  would  extricate  the  host 
from  his  difficulty,  but  only  turned  to  Him  on  whom 
she  was  accustomed  to  lean.  But  His  answer  shows 
that  he  felt  Himself  urged  to  action  of  some  kind  by 
her  appeal ;  and  her  instructions  to  the  servants  to 
do  whatever  He  ordered  indicates  that  she  definitely 
expected  Him  to  relieve  the  embarrassment.  How  He 
would  do  so  she  could  not  know,  and  had  she  definitely 
expected  a  miracle  she  would  probably  have  thought 
the  help  of  the  servants  unnecessary. 

But  thoi^h   Mary  did   not  anticipate  a  miracl^  it 


ii.  i-ii.]   THE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CANA.  71 

had  already  occurred  to  our  Lord  that  this  was  a  fit 
occasion  for  manifesting  His  kingly  power.  His  words 
grate  somewhat  on  the  ear,  but  this  is  partly  due  to 
the  difficulty  of  translating  fine  shades  of  meaning,  and 
to  the  impossibility  of  conveying  in  any  words  that 
modification  of  meaning  which  is  given  in  the  tone  of 
voice  and  expression  of  face,  and  which  arises  also 
from  the  familiarity  and  affection  of  speaker  and  hearer. 
In  His  use  of  the  word  "  Woman  "  there  is  really  no 
harshness,  this  being  the  ordinary  Greek  term  of 
address  to  females  of  all  classes  and  relationships,  and 
being  commonly  used  with  the  utmost  reverence  and 
affection.  The  phrase  "  What  have  I  to  do  with  thee  ?  " 
is  a  needlessly  strong  translation,  although  it  might  be 
difficult  to  find  a  better.  It  "  implies  a  certain  resist- 
ance to  a  demand  in  itself,  or  to  something  in  the  way 
of  urging  it ; "  but  might  be  quite  sufficiently  rendered 
by  such  an  expression  as  "  I  have  other  thoughts  than 
thine."  There  is  nothing  approaching  angry  resentment 
at  Mar^s  inviting  His  aid,  nothing  like  repudiation  of 
any  claim  she  might  have  upon  Him,  but  only  a  calm 
and  gentle  intimation  that  in  the  present  instance  she 
must  allow  Him  to  act  in  His  own  way.  The  whole 
phrase  might  be  rendered,  **  Mother,  you  must  let  Me 
act  here  in  My  own  way  :  and  My  time  for  action  is 
not  yet  come."  She  herself  was  perfectly  satisfied  with 
the  answer.  Knowing  her  Son  well,  every  gleam  of 
His  expression,  every  tone  of  His  voice,  she  recognised 
that  He  meant  to  do  something,  and  accordingly  left 
the  matter  in  His  hands,  giving  orders  to  the  servants 
to  do  whatever  He  required. 

But  there  was  more  in  the  words  of  Jesus  than  even 
Mary  understood.  There  were  thoughts  in  His  mind 
which  not  even  she  could  fathom,  and  which  had  He 


THE  SOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


explained  them  to  her  then  she  could  not  have  sym- 
pathized with.  For  these  words,  "  Mine  hour  is  not  yet 
come,"  which  she  took  to  be  the  mere  intimation  of  a 
few  minutes'  delay  before  granting  her  request,  became 
the  most  solemn  watchword  of  His  life,  marking  the 
stages  by  which  He  drew  near  to  His  death.  "  They 
sought  to  take  Him,  but  no  man  laid  hands  on  Him, 
because  His  hour  was  not  yet  come."  So  again  and 
again.  From  the  first  He  knew  what  would  come  of 
His  manifesting  His  glory  among  men.  From  the  first 
He  knew  that  His  glory  could  not  be  fully  manifested 
till  He  hung  upon  the  cross. 

Can  we  wonder,  then,  that  when  He  recognised  in 
His  mother's  request  the  invitation  from  God,  though 
not  from  her,  that  He  should  work  His  first  miracle 
and  so  begin  to  manifest  His  glory.  He  should  have 
said,  "  My  thoughts  are  not  yours  ;  Mine  hour  is  not  yet 
come  "  ?  With  compassion  He  looked  upon  her  through 
whose  soul  a  sword  was  to  pass  ;  with  filial  tenderness 
He  could  only  look  with  deep  pity  on  her  who  was  now 
the  unconscious  instrument  of  summoning  Him  to  that 
career  which  He  knew  must  end  in  death.  He  saw  in 
this  simple  act  of  furnishing  the  wedding  guests  with 
wine  a  very  different  significance  from  that  which  she 
saw.  It  was  here  at  this  wedding  feast  table  that  He 
felt  Himself  impelled  to  take  the  step  which  altered  the 
whole  character  of  His  life. 

For  from  a  private  person  He  became  by  His  first 
miracle  a  public  and  marked  character  with  a  definite 
career.  "  To  live  henceforth  in  the  vortex  of  a  whirl- 
wind ;  to  have  no  leisure  so  much  as  to  eat,  no  time  to 
pray  save  when  others  slept,  to  be  the  gazing-stock  of 
every  eye,  the  common  talk  of  every  tongue;  to  be 
followed  about,  to  be  thronged  and  jostled,  to  be  gaped 


H.  i-ii.J  THE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CANA.  73 

upon,  to  be  hunted  up  and  down  by  curious  vulgar 
crowds ;  to  be  hated,  and  detested,  and  defamed,  and 
blasphemed  ;  to  be  regarded  as  a  public  enemy  ;  to  be 
watched  and  spied  upon  and  trapped  and  taken  as 
a  notorious  criminal " — is  it  possible  to  suppose  that 
Christ  was  indifferent  to  all  this,  and  that  without 
shrinking  He  stepped  across  the  line  which  marked  the 
threshold  of  His  public  career? 

And  this  was  the  least  of  it,  that  in  this  act  He 
became  a  public  and  marked  character.  The  glory  that 
here  shed  a  single  ray  into  the  rustic  home  of  Cana 
must  grow  to  that  dazzling  and  perfect  noon  which 
shone  from  the  cross  to  the  remotest  corner  of  earth. 
The  same  capacity  and  willingness  to  bless  mankind 
which  here  in  a  small  and  domestic  affair  brought  relief 
to  His  embarrassed  friends,  must  be  adapted  to  all  the 
needs  of  men,  and  must  undauntedly  go  forward  to  the 
utmost  of  sacrifice.  He  who  is  true  King  of  men  must 
flinch  from  no  responsibility,  from  no  pain,  from  no 
utter  self-abandonment  to  which  the  needs  of  men  may 
call  Him.  And  Jesus  knew  this  :  in  those  quiet  hours 
and  long,  untroubled  days  at  Nazareth  He  had  taken  the 
measure  of  this  world's  actual  state,  and  of  what  would 
be  required  to  lift  men  out  of  selfishness  and  give  them 
reUance  upon  God.  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  Me" — this  was  even  now  present  to  His 
mind.  His  glory  was  the  glory  of  absolute  self-sacrifice, 
and  He  knew  what  that  involved.  His  kingship  was 
the  rendering  of  service  no  other  could  render. 

The  manner  in  which  the  miracle  was  performed 
deserves  attention.  Christ  does  all  while  the  servants 
seem  to  do  all.  The  servants  fill  in  the  water  and  the 
servants  draw  off  the  wine,  and  there  is  no  apparent 
exercise  of  Divine  power,  no  mysterious  words  of  ift- 


74  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

cantation  uttered  over  the  water-pots,  not  so  much  as 
a  command  given  that  the  water  should  become  wine. 
What  is  seen  by  the  spectators  is  men  at  work,  not 
God  creating  out  of  nothing.  The  means  seem  to  be 
human,  the  result  is  found  to  be  Divine.  Jesus  says, 
"  Fill  the  water  pots  with  water,"  and  they  filled  them  ; 
and  filled  them  not  as  if  their  doing  so  were  a  mere 
form,  and  as  if  they  would  leave  room  for  Christ  to  add 
to  their  work ;  no,  they  filled  them  up  to  the  brim. 
Again  He  says,  "  Draw  out  now,  and  bear  to  the 
governor  of  the  feast,"  and  they  bore.  They  knew  very 
well  they  had  only  put  in  water,  and  they  knew  that 
to  offer  water  to  the  governor  of  a  marriage  feast  would 
be  to  insure  their  own  punishment ;  but  they  did  not 
hesitate.  There  seemed  every  reason  why  they  should 
refuse  to  do  this,  or  why  they  should  at  least  ask  some 
explanation  or  security  that  Jesus  would  bear  the  evil 
consequences ;  but  there  was  one  reason  on  the  other 
side  which  outweighed  all  these — they  had  the  command 
of  Him  whom  they  had  been  ordered  to  obey.  And 
so,  where  reasoning  would  have  led  them  to  folly,  obe- 
dient faith  makes  them  fellow-workers  in  a  miracle. 
They  took  their  place  and  served,  and  they  who  serve 
Christ  and  do  His  will  must  do  great  things ;  for  Christ 
wills  nothing  that  is  useless,  futile,  not  worth  doing. 
But  this  is  how  we  are  tried :  we  are  commanded  to  do 
things  which  seem  unreasonable,  and  which  we  have  no 
natural  ability  to  do.  We  are  commanded  to  repent, 
and  are  yet  told  that  repentance  is  the  gift  of  Christ ; 
we  are  commanded  to  come  to  Christ,  and  are  at  the 
same  time  assured  that  we  cannot  come  except  the 
Father  draw  us ;  we  are  commanded  to  be  perfectly 
holy,  and  yet  we  know  that  as  the  leopard  cannot 
change  his  spots,  nor  one  of  us  add  a  cubit  to  his 


Ui-ii.]  THE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CANA.  75 

Stature,  so  neither  can  we  put  away  the  sins  that  stain 
our  souls  and  walk  uprightly  before  God.  And  yet 
these  commands  are  plainly  given  us,  not  only  to  make 
us  feel  our  helplessness,  but  to  be  performed.  We  feel 
our  inability,  we  may  say  it  is  unreasonable  to  demand 
from  us  what  we  cannot  perform,  to  require  that  out  of 
the  thin  and  watery  substance  of  our  human  souls  we 
should  produce  wine  that  may  be  poured  out  as  an 
offering  on  the  holy  altar  of  God ;  but  this  is  not  un- 
reasonable. It  is  our  part  in  simplicity  to  obey  God  ; 
what  is  commanded  we  are  to  do,  and  while  we  work 
He  Himself  will  also  work.  He  may  do  so  in  no 
visible  way,  as  Christ  here  did  nothing  visibly,  but  He 
will  be  with  us,  effectually  working.  As  the  will  of 
Christ  pervaded  the  water  so  that  it  was  endowed  with 
new  qualities,  so  can  His  will  pervade  our  souls,  with 
every  other  part  of  His  creation,  and  make  them  con- 
formable to  His  purpose.  "Whatsoever  He  saith 
unto  you,  do  it ; "  this  is  the  secret  of  miracle-working. 
Do  it,  though  you  seem  to  be  but  wasting  your  strength 
and  laying  yourself  open  to  the  scorn  of  onlookers  ;  do 
it,  though  in  yourself  there  is  no  ability  to  effect  what 
you  are  aiming  at ;  do  it  wholly,  up  to  the  brim,  as  if 
you  were  the  only  worker,  as  if  there  were  no  God  to 
come  after  you  and  supply  your  deficiencies,  but  as  if 
ar.y  shortcoming  on  your  part  would  be  fatal ;  do  not 
stand  waiting  for  God  to  work,  for  it  is  only  in  you  and 
by  you  that  He  performs  His  work  among  men. 

The  significance  of  this  incident  is  manifold.  First,  it 
gives  us  the  key  to  the  miracles  of  our  Lord.  It  has 
become  the  fashion  to  depreciate  miracles,  and  it  is 
often  thought  that  they  hamper  the  gospel  and  obscure 
the  true  claim  of  Christ.  It  is  often  felt  that  so  far 
from   the  miracles   verifying   Christ's  claim  to  be  the 


7<  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

Son  of  God,  they  are  the  greatest  obstacle  to  His 
acceptance.  This  is,  however,  to  misunderstand  their 
significance.  The  miracles  unquestionably  formed  a 
most  important  element  in  Christ's  life ;  and,  if  so, 
they  must  have  served  an  important  purpose ;  and  to 
wish  them  away  just  because  they  are  so  important  and 
make  so  large  a  demand  upon  faith  seems  to  me  pre- 
posterous. To  wish  them  away  precisely  because  the}* 
alter  the  very  essence  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  and 
give  it  that  very  power  which  through  all  past  ages  it 
has  exerted,  seems  unreasonable. 

When  the  Jews  discussed  His  claims  among  them- 
selves or  with  Him,  the  power  to  work  miracles  was 
always  taken  into  account  as  weighing  heavily  in  His 
favour.  He  Himself  distinctly  stated  that  the  crowning 
condemnation  of  those  who  rejected  His  claims  arose 
from  the  circumstance  that  He  had  done  among  them 
the  works  which  none  other  man  had  done.  He 
challenges  them  to  deny  that  it  was  by  the  finger  of 
God  that  He  wrought  these  works.  After  His  with- 
drawal from  earth  the  miracle  of  the  Resurrection  was 
still  appealed  to  as  the  convincing  proof  that  He  was 
all  He  had  given  Himself  out  for.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  therefore,  that  the  power  of  working  miracles 
was  one  great  evidence  of  the  Divine  mission  of  Christ. 

But  though  this  is  so,  we  are  not  on  that  account 
warranted  in  saying  that  the  only  purpose  for  which 
lie  wrought  miracles  was  to  win  men's  belief  in  His 
mission.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  told  that  it  was  one 
of  His  temptations,  a  temptation  constantly  resisted  by 
Him,  to  use  His  power  for  this  object  without  any  other 
motive.  It  was  the  reproach  He  cast  upon  the  people 
that  except  thej^  saw  signs  and  wonders  they  would 
not  believe.     He  would  never  work  a  miracle  merely 


B.  i-n,]  THE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CAN  A.  77 

for  the  sake  of  manifesting  His  glory.  Whenever  the 
unsympathetic,  ignorant  crowd  clamoured  for  a  sign  ; 
whenever  with  ill-concealed  dislike  they  cried,  "  How 
long  dost  Thou  make  us  to  doubt  ?  Show  us  a  sign 
from  heaven,  that  we  may  believe,"  He  was  silent. 
To  create  a  mere  compulsory  consent  in  minds  which 
had  no  sympathy  with  Him  was  never  a  sufficient 
motive.  Was  there  a  sick  child  tossing  in  fever,  was 
there  a  blind  beggar  by  the  roadside,  was  there  a 
hungry  crowd,  was  there  even  the  joy  of  a  feast  in- 
terrupted :  in  these  He  could  find  a  worthy  occasion 
for  a  miracle ;  but  never  did  He  work  a  miracle  merely 
for  the  sake  of  removing  the  doubts  of  reluctant  men. 
Where  there  was  not  even  the  beginning  of  faith 
miracles  were  useless.  He  could  not  work  miracles  in 
some  places  because  of  their  unbelief. 

What  then  was  the  motive  of  Christ's  miracles  ?  He 
was,  as  these  first  disciples  owned  Him,  the  King  of 
God's  kingdom  among  men :  He  was  the  ideal  Man, 
the  new  Adam,  the  true  Source  of  human  goodness, 
health,  and  power.  He  came  to  do  us  good,  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  filled  His  human  nature  to  its  utmost 
capacity,  that  it  might  do  all  that  man  can  do.  Having 
these  powers,  He  could  not  but  use  them  for  men. 
Having  power  to  heal.  He  could  not  but  heal,  irrespec- 
tive of  the  result  which  the  miracle  might  have  on  the 
faith  of  those  who  saw  it ;  nay.  He  could  not  but  heal, 
though  He  straitly  charged  the  healed  person  to  let 
no  man  know  what  had  been  done.  His  miracles  were 
His  kingly  acts,  by  which  He  suggested  what  man's 
true  life  in  God's  kingdom  should  be  and  will  be.  They 
were  the  utterance  of  what  was  in  Him,  the  manifesta- 
tion of  His  glory,  the  glory  of  One  who  came  to  utter 
the  Father's  heart  to  His  strayed  children.     They  ex- 


78  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

pressed  good-will  to  men ;  and  to  the  spiritual  eye  ol 
a  John  they  became  "  signs "  of  spiritual  wonders, 
symbols  and  pledges  of  those  greater  works  and  eternal 
blessings  which  Jesus  came  to  bestow.  The  miracles 
revealed  the  Divine  compassion,  the  grace  and  help- 
fulness that  were  in  Christ,  and  led  men  to  trust  Him 
for  all  their  needs. 

We  must,  therefore,  beware  of  falling  into  the  error 
that  lies  at  either  extreme.  We  must  neither,  on  the 
one  hand,  suppose  that  Christ's  miracles  were  wrought 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  His  claim  to  be 
God's  Viceroy  on  earth;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
we  to  suppose  that  the  marvels  of  beneficence  by  which 
He  was  known  did  nothing  to  prove  His  claim  or 
promote  His  kingdom.  The  poet  writes  because  he  is 
a  poet,  and  not  to  convince  the  world  that  he  is  a  poet ; 
yet  by  writing  he  does  convince  the  world.  The 
benevolent  man  acts  just  as  Christ  did  when  He  seemed 
to  lay  His  finger  on  His  lips  and  warned  the  healed 
person  to  make  no  mention  of  this  kind  act  to  anyone ; 
and  therefore  all  who  do  discover  his  actions  know  that 
he  is  really  charitable.  The  act  that  a  man  does  in 
order  that  he  may  be  recognised  as  a  good  and  benevo- 
lent person  exhibits  his  love  of  recognition  much  more 
strikingly  than  his  benevolence ;  and  it  is  because  the 
miracles  of  Christ  were  wrought  from  the  purest  and 
most  self-denying  compassion  that  ever  explored  and 
bound  up  the  wounds  of  men,  that  we  acknowledge 
Him  as  incontestably  our  King. 

2.  In  what  respects,  then,  did  this  first  miracle 
manifest  the  glory  of  Christ  ?  What  was  there  in  it  to 
stir  the  thought  and  attract  the  adoration  and  trust  of 
the  disciples?  Was  it  worthy  to  be  the  medium  of 
conveying  to  their  minds  the  first  ideas  of  His  glory 


ILi-ii.]  THE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CAN  A,  n 

they  were  to  cherish  ?  And  what  ideas  must  these  have 
been?  The  first  impression  they  must  have  received 
from  the  miracle  was,  no  doubt,  simple  amazement  at 
the  power  which  so  easily  and  unostentatiously  turned 
the  water  into  wine.  This  Person,  they  must  have  felt, 
stood  in  a  peculiar  relation  to  Nature.  In  fact,  what 
John  laid  as  the  foundation  of  his  Gospel, — that  the 
Christ  who  came  to  redeem  was  He  by  whom  all  things 
were  at  first  made, — Jesus  also  advanced  as  the  first 
step  in  His  revelation  of  Himself.  He  appears  as  the 
Source  of  life,  whose  will  pervades  all  things.  He 
comes,  not  as  a  stranger  or  interloper  who  has  no 
sympathy  with  existing  things,  but  as  the  faithful 
Creator,  who  loves  all  that  He  has  made,  and  can  use 
all  things  for  the  good  of  men.  He  is  at  home  in  the 
world,  and  enters  physical  nature  as  its  King,  who  can 
use  it  for  His  high  ends.  Never  before  has  He  wrought 
a  miracle,  but  in  this  first  command  to  Nature  there 
is  no  hesitation,  no  experimenting,  no  anxiety,  but  the 
easy  confidence  of  a  Master.  He  is  either  Himself  the 
Creator  of  the  world  He  comes  to  restore  to  worth  and 
peace,  or  He  is  the  Delegate  of  the  Creator.  We  see 
in  this  first  miracle  that  Christ  is  not  an  alien  or  an 
usurper,  but  one  who  has  already  the  closest  connection 
with  us  and  with  all  things.  We  receive  assurance 
that  in  Him  God  is  present 

3.  But  it  was  not  only  the  Creator's  power  which 
was  shown  in  this  miracle,  but  some  hint  was  given  of 
the  ends  for  which  that  power  would  be  used  by  Christ. 
Perhaps  the  disciples  who  had  known  and  admired  the 
austere  life  of  the  Baptist  would  expect  that  He  whom 
the  Baptist  proclaimed  as  greater  than  himself  would 
be  greater  in  the  same  line,  and  would  reveal  His  glory 
by  a  sublime  abstemiousness.     They  had   confessed 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


Him  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  might  naturally  expect 
to  find  in  Him  an  independence  of  earthly  joys.  They 
had  followed  Him  as  the  king  of  Israel ;  was  His 
kingly  glory  to  find  a  suitable  sphere  in  the  little  family 
difficulties  that  poverty  begets  ?  It  is  almost  a  shock 
to  our  own  ideas  of  our  Lord  to  think  of  Him  as  one  of 
a  marriage  party;  to  hear  Him  uttering  the  ordinary 
salutations,  civilities,  and  enquiries  of  a  friendly  and 
festive  gathering ;  to  see  Him  standing  by  while  others 
are  the  principal  figures  in  the  room.  And  we  know 
that  many  who  had  opportunity  to  observe  His  habits 
could  never  understand  or  reconcile  themselves  to  His 
easy  familiarity  with  all  kinds  of  people,  and  to  His 
freedom  in  partaking  in  mirthful  scenes  and  hilarious 
entertainments. 

And  just  because  of  this  difficulty  we  find  in  recon- 
ciling religion  with  joy,  God  with  nature,  does  Christ 
reveal  His  glory  first  at  a  marriage-feast, — not  in  the 
temple,  not  in  the  synagogue,  not  by  taking  His 
disciples  apart  to  teach  them  to  pray,  but  at  a  festive 
gathering,  that  thus  they  may  recognise  in  Him  the 
Lord  of  all  human  life,  and  see  that  His  work  of  re- 
demption is  co-extensive  with  human  experience.  He 
comes  among  us,  not  to  crush  or  pour  contempt  on 
human  feelings,  but  to  exalt  them  by  sharing  in  them ; 
not  to  show  that  it  is  possible  to  live  separate  from  all 
human  sympathies,  but  to  deepen  and  intensify  them ; 
not  to  do  away  with  the  ordinary  business  and  social 
relations  of  life,  but  to  sanctify  them.  He  comes 
sharing  in  all  pure  feelings  and  joys,  sanctioning  all 
natural  relationships ;  Himself  human,  with  interest  in 
all  human  interests ;  not  a  mere  spectator  or  censor  of 
human  affairs,  but  Himself  a  man  implicated  in  things 
human.     He  shows  us  the  folly  of  fancying  that  God 


U.1-I1.]   THE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CANA.  8i 

looks  with  an  austere  and  morose  eye  upon  outbursts 
of  human  affection  and  joy,  and  teaches  us  that  to  be 
holy  as  He  is  holy  we  are  not  required  to  abandon  the 
ordinary  affairs  of  life,  and  that  however  we  make  them 
the  apology  for  worldliness,  it  is  not  the  necessary  duties 
or  relations  of  life  that  prevent  our  being  Christlike, 
but  these  are  the  very  material  in  which  His  glory  may 
be  most  clearly  seen,  the  soil  in  which  must  grow  and 
ripen  all  Christian  graces  and  fruits  of  righteousness. 

This,  then,  was  the  glory  Christ  wished  His  disciples 
first  of  all  to  see.  He  was  to  be  their  King,  not  by 
drilling  men  to  fight  for  Him,  nor  by  interrupting  the 
natural  order  and  upsetting  the  established  ways  Cf 
men,  but  by  entering  into  these  with  a  gladdening, 
purifying,  elevating  spirit.  His  glory  was  not  to  be 
confined  to  a  palace  or  to  a  small  circle  of  courtiers, 
or  to  one  particular  department  of  activity,  but  was  to 
be  found  irradiating  all  human  life  in  its  most  ordinary 
forms.  He  came,  indeed,  to  make  all  things  new,  but 
the  new  creation  was  the  fulfilment  of  the  original  idea  : 
it  was  not  to  be  achieved  by  thwarting  nature,  nor  by 
a  one-sided  development  of  some  elements  of  nature, 
but  by  guiding  the  whole  to  its  original  destination,  by 
lifting  the  whole  into  harmony  with  God.  We  see  th^ 
glory  of  Christ,  and  accept  Him  as  our  Ruler  and 
Redeemer,  because  we  see  in  Him  perfect  sympathy 
with  all  that  is  human. 

4.  While  enjoying  the  bounty  of  Christ  at  the 
marriage  feast,  John  cannot  have  yet  understood  all 
that  was  involved  in  His  Master's  purpose  to  bring 
new  life  and  happiness  to  this  world  of  men.  After- 
wards, no  doubt,  he  saw  how  appropriately  this  miracle 
took  the  first  place,  and  through  it  read  his  Lord's  own 
thoughts  about  His  whole  work  on  earth.     For  it  is 

6 


82  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

impossible  that  Christ  Himself  should  not  have  had 
His  own  thoughts  about  the  significance  of  this  miracle. 
He  had,  during  the  previous  six  weeks,  passed  through 
a  time  of  violent  mental  disturbance  and  of  supreme 
spiritual  exaltation.     The  measureless  task  laid  upon 
Him  had  become  visible  to   Him.     Already  He  was 
aware  that  only  through  His  death  could  the  utmost  of 
blessing  be  imparted  to  men.     Is  it  possible  that  while 
He  first  put  forth  His  power  to  restore  the  joy  of  these 
wedding  guests.  He  should  not  have  seen  in  the  wine 
a  symbol  of  the  blood  He  was  to  shed  for  the  refresh- 
ment and  revival  of  men  ?     The  Baptist,  whose  mind 
was  nourished  with  Old  Testament  ideas,  called  Christ 
the  Bridegroom,  and  His  people  the  Bride.     Must  not 
Jesus  also  have  thought  of  those  who  believed  in  Him 
as  His  bride,  and  must  not  the  very  sight  of  a  marriage 
have  set  His  thoughts  working  regarding   His  whole 
relation  to  men  ?     So  that  in  His  first  miracle  He  no 
doubt  saw  a  summary  of  His  whole  work.     In  this 
first  manifestation  of  His  glory  there  is,  to  Himself  at 
least,  a  reminder  that  only  by  His  death  will  that  glory 
be  perfected.     Without   Him,   as  He  saw,  the  joy  of 
this  wedding  feast  had  been  brought  to  an  untimely 
close ;  and  without  His  tree  outpouring  of  His  life  for 
men   there  could   be   no   presenting   of  men   to  God 
unblemished  and  blameless,  no  fulfilment  of  those  high 
hopes  of  mankind  that   nourish   pure  characters  and 
noble  deeds,  but  a  swift  and  dreary  extinction  of  even 
natural  joys.     It  is  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb, 
of  Him  who  was  slain,  and  has  redeemed  us  by  His 
blood,  that  we  are  invited.     It  is  the  "  Lamb's  wife  ** 
that  John  saw  adorned  as  a  bride  for  her  Husband. 
And  whosoever  would  sit  down  at  that  feast  which 
consummates  the  experience  of  this  life,  terminating 


fl.l-11.]  THE  FIRST  SIGN— THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CANA.  83 

all  its  vacillation  of  trust  and  love,  and  which  opens 
eternal  and  unlimited  joy  to  the  people  of  Christ, 
must  wash  and  make  white  his  garments  in  this  blood. 
He  must  not  shrink  from  the  closest  fellowship  with  the 
purifying  love  of  Christ. 

5.  His  disciples,  when  they  saw  His  power  and  His 
goodness  in  this  miracle,  felt  more  than  ever  that  He 
was  the  rightful  King.  They  "  believed  on  Him."  To 
us  this  first  of  signs  is  merged  in  the  last,  in  His 
death.  The  joy,  the  self-sacrifice,  the  holiness,  the 
strength  and  beauty  of  human  character  which  that 
death  has  produced  in  the  world,  is  the  great  evidence 
which  enables  many  now  to  believe  in  Him.  The  fact 
is  indubitable.  The  intelligent  secular  historian,  who 
surveys  the  rise  and  growth  of  European  nations,  counts 
the  death  of  Christ  among  the  most  vital  and  influential 
of  powers  for  good.  It  has  touched  all  things  with 
change,  and  been  the  source  of  endless  benefit  to  men. 
Are  we  then  to  repudiate  Him  or  to  acknowledge  Him  ? 
Are  we  to  act  like  the  master  of  the  feast,  who  enjoyed 
the  good  wine  without  asking  where  it  came  from ;  or 
are  we  to  own  ourselves  debtors  to  the  actual  Creator 
of  our  happiness  ?  If  the  disciples  believed  on  Him 
when  they  saw  Him  furnish  these  wedding  guests  with 
wine,  shall  we  not  believe,  who  know  that  through 
all  these  ages  He  has  furnished  the  pained  and  the 
poor  with  hope  and  consolation,  the  desolate  and 
broken-hearted  with  restoring  sympathy,  the  outcast 
with  the  knowledge  of  God's  love,  the  sinner  with 
pardon,  with  heaven,  and  with  God  ?  Is  not  the  glory 
He  showed  at  this  marriage  in  Cana  precisely  what 
still  attracts  us  to  Him  with  confidence  and  affection  ? 
Can  we  not  wholly  trust  this  Lord  who  has  a  perfect 
sympathy  guiding  His  Divine  power,  who  brings  the 


?4  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

presence  of  God  into  all  the  details  of  human  life,  who 
enters  into  all  our  joys  and  all  our  sorrows,  and  is  ever 
watchful  to  anticipate  our  every  need,  and  supply  it  out 
of  His  inexhaustible  and  ail-sufficient  fulness  ?  Kappy 
they  who  know  His  heart  as  His  mother  knew  it,  and 
are  satisfied  to  name  their  want  and  leave  it  with  Him, 


VI. 

THE  CLEANSING   OF   THE    TEMPLE. 


»S 


**  After  this  He  went  down  to  Capernaum,  He,  and  His  mother,  and 
His  brethren,  and  His  disciples :  and  there  they  abode  not  many  days. 
And  the  Passover  of  the  Jews  was  at  hand,  and  Jesus  went  up  to  Jeru- 
salem. And  He  found  in  the  temple  those  that  sold  oxen  and  sheep 
and  doves,  and  the  changers  of  money  sitting  :  and  He  made  a  scoui^e 
of  cords,  and  cast  all  out  of  the  temple,  both  the  sheep  and  the  oxen  ; 
and  He  poured  out  the  changers'  money,  and  overthrew  their  tables  ; 
and  to  them  that  sold  the  doves  He  said.  Take  these  things  hence ; 
make  not  My  Father's  house  a  house  of  merchandise.  His  disciples 
remembered  that  it  was  written,  The  zeal  of  Thine  house  shall  eat  me 
np.  The  Jews  therefore  answered  and  said  unto  Him,  What  sign 
showest  Thou  unto  us,  seeing  that  Thou  doest  these  things?  Jesus 
answered  and  said  unto  them.  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three  dajrs 
I  will  raise  it  up.  The  Jews  therefore  said,  Forty  and  six  years  was  this 
temple  in  building,  and  wilt  Thou  raise  it  up  in  three  days?  Bat 
He  spake  of  the  temple  of  His  body.  When  therefore  He  was  raised 
from  the  dead,  His  disciples  remembered  that  He  spake  this  ;  and 
they  believed  the  Scripture,  and  the  word  which  Jesnt  had  said."— 

JOHM  iL  l*-«2. 


VI. 

THE  CLEANSING   OF   THE    TEMPLE. 

WHETHER  the  Nazareth  family  returned  from 
Cana  to  their  own  town  before  going  down  to 
Capernaum,  John  does  not  inform  us.  Neither  are  we 
told  why  they  went  to  Capernaum  at  all  at  this  time. 
It  may  have  been  in  order  to  join  one  of  the  larger 
caravans  going  up  to  Jerusalem  for  the  approaching 
Feast.  Not  only  the  disciples,  some  of  whom  had  their 
homes  on  the  lake-side,  accompanied  Jesus,  but  also  His 
mother  and  His  brothers.  The  manner  in  which  the 
brothers  are  spoken  of  in  connection  with  His  mother 
suggests  that  He  and  they  bore  to  her  the  same  relation. 
They  remained  in  Capernaum  "  not  many  days,"  because 
the  Passover  was  at  hand.  Having  come  to  Jerusalem, 
and  appearing  there  for  the  first  time  since  His  baptism, 
He  performed  several  miracles.  These  John  omits,  and 
selects  as  more  significant  and  worthy  of  record  one 
authoritative  act. 

The  circumstances  which  occasioned  this  act  were 
familiar  to  the  Jerusalem  Jew.  The  exigencies  of 
Temple  worship  had  bred  a  flagrant  abuse.  Wor- 
shippers coming  from  remote  parts  of  the  Holy  Land, 
and  from  countries  beyond,  found  it  a  convenience  to 
be  able  to  purchase  on  the  spot  the  animals  used  in 
sacrifice,  and  the  material  for  various  offerings — salt, 

87 


«8  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

meal,  oil,  frankincense.  Traders  were  not  slow  to 
supply  this  demand,  and  vying  with  one  another  they 
crept  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  sacred  precincts,  until 
some,  under  pretence  perhaps  of  driving  in  an  animal 
for  sacrifice,  made  a  sale  within  the  outer  court.  This 
court  had  an  area  of  about  fourteen  acres,  and  was 
separated  from  the  inner  court  by  a  wall  breast  high, 
and  bearing  intimations  which  forbade  the  encroach- 
ment of  Gentiles  on  pain  of  death.  Round  this  outer 
court  ran  marble  colonnades,  richly  ornamented  and 
supported  by  four  rows  of  pillars,  and  roofed  with 
cedar,  affording  ample  shade  to  the  traders. 

There  were  not  only  cattle-dealers  and  sellers  of 
pigeons,  but  also  money-changers;  for  every  Jew  had 
to  pay  to  the  Temple  treasury  an  annual  tax  of  half 
a  shekel,  and  this  tax  could  be  paid  only  in  the  sacred 
currency.  No  foreign  coin,  with  its  emblem  of  sub- 
mission to  an  alien  king,  was  allowed  to  pollute  the 
Temple.  Thus  there  came  to  be  need  of  money- 
changers, not  only  for  the  Jew  who  had  come  up  to 
the  feast  from  a  remote  part  of  the  empire,  but  even  for 
the  inhabitant  of  Palestine,  as  the  Roman  coinage  had 
displaced  the  shekel  in  ordinary  use. 

There  might  seem,  therefore,  to  be  room  to  say  much 
in  favour  of  this  convenient  custom.  At  any  rate,  it 
was  one  of  those  abuses  which,  while  they  may  shock 
a  fresh  and  unsophisticated  mind,  are  allowed  both 
because  they  contribute  to  public  convenience  and 
because  they  have  a  large  pecuniary  interest  at  their 
back.  In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  practice  gave  rise 
to  lamentable  consequences.  Cattle-dealers  and  money- 
changers have  always  been  notorious  for  making  more 
than  their  own  out  of  their  bargains,  and  facts  enough 
arc  on  record  to  justify  our  Lord  calling  this  particular 


it  13-22.]      THE  CLEANSING   OF  THE   TEMPLE.  S9 

market  "  a  den  of  thieves."  The  poor  were  shamefully 
cheated,  and  the  worship  of  God  was  hindered  and 
impoverished  instead  of  being  facilitated  and  enriched. 
And  even  although  this  traffic  had  been  carried  ob 
under  careful  supervision,  and  on  unimpeachable  prin- 
ciples, still  it  was  unseemly  that  the  worshipper  who 
came  to  the  Temple  seeking  quiet  and  fellowship  with 
God  should  have  to  push  his  way  through  the  touts 
of  the  dealers,  and  have  his  devotional  temper  dissi- 
pated by  the  wrangling  and  shouting  of  a  cattle  market. 
Yet  although  many  must  have  lamented  this,  no  one 
had  been  bold  enough  to  rebuke  and  abolish  the  glaring 
profanation. 

Jesus  on  entering  the  Temple  finds  Himself  in  the 
midst  of  this  incongruous  scene — the  sounds  and  move- 
ments of  a  market,  the  loud  and  eager  exclamations  of 
competing  traders,  the  bustle  of  selecting  one  animal 
out  of  a  flock,  the  loud  talk  and  laughter  of  the  idle 
groups  of  onlookers.  Jesus  cannot  stand  it.  Zeal  for 
the  honour  of  His  Father's  house  possesses  Him.  The 
Temple  claims  Him  as  its  vindicator  from  abuse. 
Nowhere  can  He  more  appropriately  assert  His  autho- 
rity as  Messiah.  Out  of  the  cords  lying  about  He 
quickly  knots  together  a  formidable  scourge,  and  silently, 
leaving  the  public  conscience  to  justify  His  action,  He 
proceeds  single-handed  to  drive  out  cattle  and  traders 
together.  A  scene  of  violence  ensued, — the  cattle  rush- 
ing hither  and  thither,  the  owners  trying  to  preserve 
their  property,  the  money-changers  holding  their  tables 
as  Jesus  went  from  one  to  another  upsetting  them,  the 
scattered  coin  scrambled  for;  and  over  all  the  threaten- 
ing scourge  and  the  commanding  eye  of  the  Stranger. 
Never  on  any  other  occasion  did  our  Lord  use 
violence. 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


The  audacity  of  the  act  has  few  parallels.  To  inter- 
fere in  the  very  Temple  with  any  of  its  recognised 
customs  was  in  itself  a  claim  to  be  King  in  Israel. 
Were  a  stranger  suddenly  to  appear  in  the  lobby  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  by  sheer  dignity  of 
demeanour,  and  the  force  of  integrity,  to  rectify  an 
abuse  of  old  standing  involving  the  interests  of  a 
wealthy  and  privileged  class,  it  could  not  create  a 
greater  sensation.  The  Baptist  might  be  with  Him, 
cowing  the  truculent  with  his  commanding  eye ;  but 
there  was  no  need  of  the  Baptist :  the  action  of  Christ 
awakening  conscience  in  the  men  themselves  was 
enough  to  quell  resistance. 

No  doubt  Jesus  began  His  work  at  the  house  of  God 
because  He  knew  that  the  Temple  was  the  real  heart 
of  the  nation ;  that  it  was  belief  in  God  which  was 
their  strength  and  hope,  and  that  the  loss  of  that  belief, 
and  the  consequent  irreverence  and  worldliness,  were 
ihe  most  dangerous  features  of  Jewish  society.  The 
state  of  matters  He  found  in  the  Temple  could  not 
have  been  tolerated  had  the  people  really  believed  God 
was  present  in  the  Temple. 

Such  an  act  could  not  pass  without  being  criticised, 
(t  would  be  keenly  discussed  that  evening  in  Jerusalem. 
A.t  every  table  it  would  be  the  topic  of  conversation, 
md  a  most  serious  one  wherever  men  in  authority  were 
meeting.  Many  would  condemn  it  as  a  piece  of  phari- 
saic  ostentation.  If  He  is  a  reformer,  why  does  He 
not  turn  His  attention  to  the  licentiousness  of  the 
people?  Why  show  such  extravagant  and  unseemly 
seal  about  so  innocent  a  custom  when  flagrant  immora- 
lities abound  ?  Why  not  spend  His  zeal  in  clearing 
out  from  the  land  the  polluting  foreigner?  Such 
charges  are  easy.     No  man  can  do  everything,  least 


li.  12-22.]      THE  CLEANSING  OF  THE  TEMPLE.  9I 

of  all  can  he  do  everything  at  once.  And  yet  the 
advocate  of  temperance  is  twitted  with  his  negligence 
of  other  causes  which  are  perhaps  as  necessary ;  and 
he  who  pleads  for  foreign  missions  is  reminded  that 
we  have  heathen  at  home.  These  are  the  carping 
criticisms  of  habitual  fault-finders,  and  of  men  who 
have  no  hearty  desire  for  the  advancement  of  what 
is  good. 

Others,  again,  who  approved  the  act  could  not 
reconcile  themselves  to  the  manner  of  it.  Might  it 
not  have  been  enough  to  have  pointed  out  the  abuse, 
and  to  have  made  a  strong  representation  to  the  autho- 
rities ?  Was  it  fair  to  step  in  and  usurp  the  authority 
of  the  Sanhedrim  or  Temple  officials  ?  Was  it  con- 
sistent with  prophetic  dignity  to  drive  out  the  offenders 
with  His  own  hand  ?  Even  those  most  friendly  to 
Him  may  have  felt  a  little  jarred  as  they  saw  Him 
with  uplifted  scourge  and  flaming  eyes  violently  driving 
before  Him  men  and  beasts.  But  they  remembered 
that  it  was  written,  "The  zeal  of  Thine  house  will 
consume  Me."  They  remembered  perhaps  how  the 
most  popular  king  of  Israel  had  danced  before  the 
ark,  to  the  scandal  indeed  of  duU-souled  conventiona- 
lists, but  with  the  approval  of  all  clear-seeing  and 
spiritually-judging  men.  They  might  also  have  re- 
membered how  the  last  of  their  prophecies  had  said, 
"  Behold,  the  Lord  whom  ye  seek  shall  suddenly  come 
to  His  temple.  But  who  may  abide  the  day  of  His 
coming,  and  who  shall  stand  when  He  appeareth  ?  " 

This  zeal  at  once  explained  and  justified  His  action. 
Some  abuses  may  be  reformed  by  appeal  to  the  con- 
stituted authorities ;  others  can  be  abolished  only  by 
the  blazing  indignation  of  a  righteous  soul  who  cannot 
longer  endure  the  sight     This   zeal,   conquering  all 


f%  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

consideration  of  consequences  and  regard  to  appear- 
ances, acts  as  a  cleansing  fire,  sweeping  before  it  what 
is  offensive.  It  has  always  its  own  risks  to  run :  the 
authorities  at  Jerusalem  never  forgave  Jesus  this  first 
interference.  By  reforming  an  abuse  they  should  never 
have  allowed,  He  damaged  them  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people,  and  they  could  never  forget  it  Zeal  also  runs 
the  risk  of  acting  indiscreetly  and  taking  too  much 
upon  it  In  itself  zeal  is  a  good  thing,  but  it  does  not 
exist  "in  itself."  It  exists  in  a  certain  character,  and 
where  the  character  is  imperfect  or  dangerous  the  zeal 
is  imperfect  or  dangerous.  The  zeal  of  the  proud  or 
selfish  man  is  mischievous,  the  zeal  of  the  ignorant 
fraught  with  disaster.  Still,  with  all  risks,  give  us  by 
all  means  rather  the  man  who  is  eaten  up,  possessed 
and  carried  away,  by  a  passionate  sympathy  with  the 
oppressed  and  neglected,  or  with  unquenchable  zeal  for 
rectitude  and  honourable  dealing  or  for  the  glory  of 
God,  than  the  man  who  can  stand  and  be  a  spectator  of 
wrong  because  it  is  no  business  of  his  to  see  that  in- 
justice be  withstood,  who  can  connive  at  unrighteous 
practices  because  their  correction  is  troublesome,  in- 
vidious, hazardous.  He  who  lays  a  sudden  hand  on 
wrong-doing  may  have  no  legal  authority  to  plead  in 
his  defence  when  challenged,  but  to  all  good  men  such 
an  act  justifies  itself.  It  was  a  similar  zeal  which  at 
all  times  governed  Christ.  He  could  not  stand  by  and 
wash  His  hands  of  other  men's  sins.  It  was  this 
which  brought  Him  to  the  cross,  this  which  in  the 
first  place  brought  Him  to  this  world  at  all.  He  had 
to  interfere.  Zeal  for  His  father's  glory,  zeal  for  God 
and  man,  possessed  Him. 

It  was  therefore  no  concern  of  Jesus  to  make  Him- 
self very  intelligible  to  those  who  could  not  understand 


ii.  12-22.]      THE  CLEANSING  OP  THE   TEMPLE.  93 

the  action  itself  and  demanded  a  sign.  They  did  not 
understand  His  answer;  and  it  was  not  intended  they 
should.  Frequently  our  Lord's  answers  are  enigma- 
tical. Men  have  opportunity  to  stumble  over  them,  it 
they  will.  For  frequently  they  asked  foolish  questions, 
which  admitted  only  of  such  answers.  The  present 
question,  "What  sign  showest  Thou  unto  us,  seeing 
that  Thou  doest  these  things  ?  "  was  absurd.  It  was 
to  ask  for  a  light  to  see  light  with,  a  sign  of  a  sign. 
His  zeal  for  God  that  carried  the  crowd  before  it,  and 
swept  God's  house  clean  of  the  profane,  was  the  best 
proof  of  His  authority  and  Messiahship.  But  there 
was  one  sign  which  He  could  promise  them  without 
violating  His  principle  to  do  no  miracle  merely  for  the 
sake  of  convincing  reluctant  minds.  There  was  one 
sign  which  formed  an  integral  part  of  His  work  ;  a 
sign  which  He  must  work,  irrespective  of  its  effect  on 
their  opinion  of  Him — the  sign  of  His  own  Resurrection. 
And  therefore,  when  they  ask  Him  for  a  sign  of  His 
authority  to  reform  the  abuses  of  the  Temple,  He 
promises  them  this  sign,  that  He  will  raise  the  Temple 
again  when  they  destroy  it.  If  He  can  give  them  a 
Temple  He  has  authority  in  it.  "  Destroy  this  Temple, 
and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up." 

What  did  He  mean  by  this  enigmatical  saying,  which 
not  even  His  disciples  understood  till  long  afterwards  ? 
We  cannot  doubt  that  in  their  resistance  to  His  first 
public  act,  righteous  and  necessary,  and  welcome  to  all 
right-hearted  men,  as  it  was,  He  plainly  saw  the 
symptom  of  a  deep-seated  hatred  of  all  reform,  which 
would  lead  them  on  to  reject  His  whole  work.  He 
had  meditated  much  on  the  tone  of  the  authorities,  on 
the  religious  state  of  His  country — what  young  man  of 
thirty  with  anything  in  him  has  not  done  sc  ?     He  had 


94  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

made  up  His  mind  that  He  would  meet  with  opposition 
at  every  point,  and  that  while  a  faithful  few  would 
stand  by  Him,  the  leaders  of  the  people  would  certainly 
resist  and  destroy  Him.  Here  in  His  very  first  act 
He  is  met  by  the  spirit  of  hatred,  and  jealousy,  and 
godlessness  which  was  at  last  to  compass  His  death. 
But  His  rejection  He  also  knew  was  to  be  the  signal 
for  the  downfall  of  the  nation.  In  destroying  Him  He 
knew  they  were  destroying  themselves,  their  city,  their 
Temple.  As  Daniel  had  long  ago  said,  "  The  Messiah 
shall  be  cut  off .  .  .  and  the  people  of  a  prince  who  shall 
come  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary." 

To  Himself  therefore  His  words  had  a  very  definite 
meaning :  Destroy  this  Temple,  as  you  certainly  will 
by  disowning  My  authority  and  resisting  My  acts  of 
reform,  and  at  length  crucifying  Me,  and  in  three  days 
I  will  raise  it.  As  by  denying  My  authority  and 
crucifying  My  Person  you  destroy  this  house  of  My 
Father,  so  by  My  resurrection  will  I  put  men  in 
possession  of  God's  true  dwelling-place,  and  introduce 
a  new  and  spiritual  worship.  "  It  is  in  Christ's  person 
this  great  drama  is  enacted.  The  Messiah  perishes: 
the  Temple  falls.  The  Messiah  lives  again :  the  true 
Temple  rises  on  the  ruins  of  the  symbolical  temple. 
For  in  the  kingdom  of  God  there  is  no  simple  restora- 
tion. Every  revival  is  at  the  same  time  an  advance  " 
(Godet).  A  living  Temple  is  better  than  a  Temple  of 
stone.  Human  nature  itself,  possessed  and  inspired  by 
the  Divine,  that  is  the  true  Temple  of  God. 

This  sign  was  in  two  years  given  to  them.  As  Jesus 
drew  His  last  breath  on  the  cross  the  veil  of  the  Temple 
was  rent.  There  was  no  longer  anything  to  veil ;  the 
unapproachable  glory  was  for  ever  gone.  The  Temple 
in  which  God  had  so  long  dwelt  was  now  but  a  shell, 


ii.  12-22.]      THE   CLEANSING   OF  THE   TEMPLE.  95 

inc»cking  and  pathetic  in  the  extreme,  as  the  clothes  of 
a  departed  friend,  or  as  the  famihar  dwelling  that  re- 
mains itself  the  same  but  changed  to  us  for  ever.  The 
Jews  in  crucifying  the  Messiah  had  effectually  destroyed 
their  Temple.  A  few  years  more  and  it  was  in  ruins, 
and  has  been  so  ever  since.  That  building  which  had 
once  the  singular,  wondeiful  dignity  of  being  the  spot 
where  God  was  specially  to  be  found  and  to  be  wor- 
shipped, and  where  He  dwelt  upon  earth  in  a  way 
apprehensible  by  men,  was  from  the  hour  of  Christ's 
death  doomed  to  vacuity  and  destruction. 

But  in  three  days  a  new  and  better  Temple  was 
raised  in  Christ's  body,  glorified  by  the  presence  of  the 
indwelling  God.  Forty  and  six  years  had  the  Jews 
spent  in  rearing  the  magnificent  pile  that  astonished 
and  awed  their  conquerors.  They  had  thus  themselves 
rebuilt  more  splendidly  the  Temple  of  Solomon.  But 
to  rebuild  the  Temple  they  destroyed  in  crucifying  the 
Lord  was  beyond  them.  The  sign  of  rebuilding  their 
Temple  of  marble,  which  they  scouted  as  a  ridiculous 
extravagance,  was  really  a  far  less  stupendous  and 
infinitely  less  significant  sign  than  that  which  He 
actually  gave  them  in  rising  from  the  dead.  If  it  was 
impossible  to  rear  that  magnificent  fabric  in  three  days, 
yet  something  might  be  done  towards  it :  but  towards 
the  raising  of  the  dead  body  of  Christ  nothing  could 
be  done  by  human  skill,  diligence,  or  power. 

But  it  is  not  the  stupendous  difficulty  of  this  sign 
which  should  chiefly  engage  our  attention.  It  is  rather 
its  significance.  Christ  rose  from  the  dead,  not  to 
startle  godless  and  trutii-hating  men  into  faith,  but  to 
furnish  all  mankind  with  a  new  and  better  Temple, 
with  the  means  of  spiritual  worship  and  constant 
fellowship  with  God.     There  was  a  necessity  for  the 


THE  GOSPEL   OF  ST.  JOHN, 


resurrection.  Those  who  became  intimately  acquainted 
with  Christ  slowly  but  surely  became  aware  that  they 
found  more  of  God  in  Him  than  ever  they  had  found 
in  the  Temple.  Gradually  they  acquired  new  thoughts 
about  God ;  and  instead  of  thinking  of  Him  as  a 
Sovereign  veiled  from  the  popular  gaze  in  the  hidden 
Holy  of  holies,  and  receiving  through  consecrated  hands 
the  gifts  and  offering  of  the  people,  they  learned  to 
think  of  Him  as  a  Father,  to  whom  no  condescension 
was  too  deep,  no  familiarity  with  men  too  close. 
Unconsciously  to  themselves,  apparently,  they  began 
to  think  of  Christ  as  the  true  Revealer  of  God,  as  the 
living  Temple  who  at  all  hours  gave  them  access  to 
the  living  God.  But  not  till  the  Resurrection  was  this 
transference  complete — nay,  so  fixed  had  their  hearts 
been,  in  common  with  all  Jewish  hearts,  upon  the 
Temple,  that  not  until  the  Temple  was  destroyed  did  they 
wholly  grasp  what  was  given  them  in  the  Resurrection 
of  Jesus.  It  was  the  Resurrection  which  confirmed 
their  wavering  belief  in  Him  as  the  Son  of  God.  As 
Paul  says,  it  was  the  resurrection  which  "  declared  Him 
to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power."  Being  the  Son  of 
God,  it  was  impossible  He  should  be  held  by  death. 
He  had  come  to  the  Temple  caUing  it  by  an  unheard-of 
name,  "My  Father's  house."  Not  Moses,  not  Solomon, 
not  Ezra,  not  the  holiest  of  high  priests,  would  have 
dreamt  of  so  identifying  himself  with  God  as  to  speak 
of  the  Temple,  not  even  as  "  our  Father's  house "  or 
"  your  Father's  house,"  but  "  my  Father's  house."  And 
it  was  the  Resurrection  which  finally  justified  His  doing 
so,  declaring  Him  to  be,  in  a  sense  no  other  was,  the 
Son  of  God. 

But  it  was  not  in  the  body  of  Christ  that  God  found 
His   permanent  dwelling   among   men.     This  sacred 


iL  12-22.]      THE  CLEANSING  OF  THE   TEMPLE,  ff 

presence  was  withdrawn  in  order  to  facilitate  the  end 
God  has  from  the  first  had  in  view,  the  full  indwelling 
and  possession  of  each  and  all  men  by  His  Spirit. 
This  intimate  fellowship  with  all  men,  this  free  com- 
munication of  Himself  to  all,  this  inhabitation  of  all 
souls  by  the  ever-living  God,  was  the  end  aimed  at 
by  all  that  God  has  done  among  men.  His  dwelling 
among  men  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  His  dwelling 
among  men  in  the  living  Person  of  Christ,  were  pre- 
liminary and  preparatory  to  His  dwelling  in  men 
individually.  "  Ye,"  says  Paul,  "  are  built  up  a  spiritual 
house."  "Ye  are  builded  together  for  a  habitation  of 
God."  "  Ye  are  the  temple  of  the  living  God."  This 
is  the  great  reality  towards  which  men  have  been  led 
by  symbol — the  complete  pervasion  of  all  intelligence 
and  of  all  moral  beings  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

For  us  this  cleansing  of  the  Temple  is  a  sign.  It  is 
a  sign  that  Christ  really  means  to  do  thoroughly  the 
great  work  He  has  taken  in  hand.  Long  ago  had  it  beer 
said,  "  Behold  the  Lord,  whom  ye  seek,  shall  suddenly 
come  to  His  Temple ;  and  He  shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and 
purifier  of  silver."  He  was  to  come  where  holiness  was 
professed,  and  to  sift  the  true  from  the  false,  the  worldly 
and  greedy  religious  from  the  devoted  and  spiritual. 
He  was  not  to  make  pretence  of  doing  so,  but  actual!}- 
to  accomplish  the  separation.  To  reform  abuses  such 
as  this  marketing  in  the  Temple  was  no  pleasant  task. 
He  had  to  meet  the  gaze  and  defy  the  vindictiveness 
of  an  exasperated  mob ;  He  had  to  make  enemies  of  a 
powerful  class  in  the  community.  But  He  does  what 
is  called  for  by  the  circumstances :  and  this  is  but  a 
part  and  a  sample  of  the  work  He  does  always. 
Always  He  makes  thorough,  real  work.  He  does  not 
blink   the  requirements  of  the  case.     We  shrug  our 

7 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


shoulders  and  pass  by  where  matters  are  difficult  to 
mend ;  we  let  the  flood  take  its  course  rather  than 
risk  being  carried  away  in  attempting  to  stem  it  Not 
so  Christ.  The  Temple  was  shortly  to  be  destroyed, 
and  it  might  seem  to  matter  little  what  practices  were 
allowed  in  it;  but  the  sounds  of  bargaining  and  the 
greedy  eye  of  trade  could  not  be  suffered  by  Him  in 
His  Father's  house :  how  much  more  shall  He  bum  as 
a  consuming  fire  when  He  cleanses  that  Church  for 
which  He  gave  Himself  that  it  might  be  without  spot 
or  blemish.  He  will  cleanse  it.  We  may  yield  our- 
selves with  gladness  to  His  sanctifying  power,  or  we 
may  rebelliously  question  His  authority ;  but  cleansed 
the  house  of  God  must  be. 


VII. 

NICODEMUS. 


99 


**  Now  when  He  was  in  Jerusalem  at  th«  passover,  daring  the  feast, 
many  believed  on  His  name,  beholding  Hit  «igns  which  He  did.  Bnt 
Jesus  did  not  trust  Himself  unto  them,  for  tl  it  He  knew  all  men,  and 
because  He  needed  not  that  any  one  should  bear  witness  concerning 
man  ;  for  He  Himself  knew  what  was  in  man.  Now  there  was  a  man 
of  the  Pharisees,  named  Nicodemus,  a  ruler  of  the  Jews :  the  same 
came  onto  Him  by  night,  and  said  to  Him,  Rabbi,  we  know  that  Thou 
art  a  teacher  come  from  God  :  for  no  man  can  do  these  signs  that  Thou 
doest,  except  God  be  with  Him.  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him, 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  bom  anew,  he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  God.  Nicodemus  saith  unto  Him,  How  can  a  man 
be  bom  when  he  is  old  ?  can  he  enter  a  second  time  into  his  mother's 
womb,  and  be  bom  ?  Jesus  answered.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee, 
Except  a  man  be  bom  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.  That  which  is  bom  of  the  flesh  is  flrsh ;  and  that 
which  is  bom  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit.  Marvel  not  that  I  s.'>id  unto  thee. 
Ye  must  be  bom  anew.  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listrth,  and  thou 
hearest  the  voice  thereof,  but  knowest  not  whence  it  co>neth,  and 
whither  it  goeth  i  so  is  every  one  that  is  bom  of  the  Spirit  "  — Tomn  iL 
33-iiL  8. 


VII. 

NICODEMUS, 

THE  first  visit  of  Jesus  to  Jerusalem  was  not  with- 
out considerable  effect  on  the  popular  mind. 
Many  who  saw  the  miracles  He  did  believed  that  He 
was  a  messenger  from  God.  They  saw  that  His 
miracles  were  not  the  clever  tricks  of  an  impostor,  and 
they  were  prepared  to  listen  to  His  teaching  and  enrol 
themselves  as  members  of  the  kingdom  He  came  to 
found.  Yet  our  Lord  did  not  encourage  them.  He 
saw  that  they  misunderstood  Him.  He  recognised 
their  worldliness  of  heart  and  of  aim,  and  did  not  admit 
them  to  the  intimacy  He  had  established  with  the  five 
simple-minded  Galileans.  The  Jerusalem  Jews  were 
glad  to  fall  in  with  one  who  seemed  likely  to  do  honour 
to  their  nation,  and  their  belief  in  Him  was  the  belief 
men  give  to  a  statesman  whose  policy  they  approve. 
The  difterence  between  them  and  those  who  rejected 
Christ  was  not  a  difference  of  disposition  such  as  exists 
between  godly  and  ungodly  men,  but  consisted  merely 
in  the  circumstance  that  they  were  convinced  that  His 
miracles  were  genuine.  Had  our  Lord  encouraged 
these  men  they  would  ultimately  have  been  disap- 
pointed in  Him.  It  was  better  that  from  the  first  they 
should  be  stimulated  to  reflect  on  the  whole  matter  by 
being  coldly  received  by  the  Lord. 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN 


It  is  always  a  point  that  calls  for  reflection  :  we  have 
to  consider  not  only  whether  we  have  faith  in  Christ, 
but  whether  He  has  faith  in  us — not  only  whether  we 
have  committed  ourselves  to  Him,  but  whether  that 
committal  is  so  genuine  that  He  can  build  upon  and 
trust  it.  Can  He  count  upon  us  for  all  service,  for 
fidelity  in  times  when  much  is  needed?  Thorough- 
going confidence  must  always  be  reciprocal.  The 
person  you  believe  in  so  utterly  that  you  are  entirely 
his,  believes  in  you  and  trusts  himself  to  you — his 
reputation,  his  interests  are  safe  in  your  keeping.  So 
is  it  with  Christ.  Faith  cannot  be  one-sided  here  any 
more  than  elsewhere.  He  gives  Himself  to  those  who 
give  themselves  to  Him.  They  who  so  trust  Him  that 
He  is  sure  they  will  follow  Him  even  when  they  can- 
not see  where  He  is  going ;  they  who  trust  Him,  not 
in  one  or  two  matters  which  they  see  He  can  manage, 
Hut  absolutely  and  in  all  things, — to  these  He  will  give 
Himself  freely,  sharing  with  them  His  work,  His  Spirit, 
His  reward. 

To  illustrate  the  state  of  mind  of  the  Jerusalem  Jews 
and  Christ's  mode  of  treating  them,  John  selects  the 
case  of  Nicodemus.  He  was  one  of  those  who  were 
much  impressed  by  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  and  were 
prepared  to  attach  themselves  to  any  movement  in  His 
favour.  He  belonged  to  the  Pharisees ;  to  that  party 
which,  with  all  its  narrowness,  pedantry,  dogmatism, 
and  bigotry,  still  preserved  a  salt  of  genuine  patriotism 
and  genuine  godliness,  and  reared  high-toned  and 
cultivated  men  like  Gamaliel  and  Saul.  Nicodemus, 
whether  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim's  deputation  to 
the  Baptist  or  not,  certainly  knew  the  result  of  that 
deputation,  and  was  aware  that  a  crisis  in  the  national 
history  had  arrived.     He  could  not  wait  for  the  com- 


ii.  23-iiL  8.]  NICODEMUS.  lOf 

munity  to  move,  but  felt  that  whatever  conclusion 
regarding  Christ  the  Pharisees  as  a  body  might  arrive 
at,  he  must  on  his  own  responsibility  be  at  the  bottom 
of  those  extraordinary  events  and  signs  that  clustered 
round  the  person  of  Jesus.  He  was  a  modest,  reserved, 
cautious  man,  and  did  not  wish  openly  to  commit  him- 
self till  he  was  sure  of  his  ground.  He  has  been 
blamed  for  timidity.  I  would  only  say  that,  if  he  felt  it 
dangerous  to  be  seen  in  the  company  of  Jesus,  it  was 
a  bold  thing  to  visit  Him  at  all.  He  went  by  night ; 
but  he  went.  And  would  that  there  were  more  like 
him,  who,  whether  cautious  to  excess  or  not,  do  still 
feel  constrained  to  judge  for  themselves  about  Christ ; 
who  feel  that,  no  matter  what  other  men  think  of  Him, 
there  is  an  interest  in  Him  which  they  cannot  wait  for 
others  to  settle,  but  must  for  themselves  settle  before 
they  sleep. 

Probably  Nicodemus  made  his  visit  by  night  because 
he  did  not  wish  to  precipitate  matters  by  calling  undue 
attention  to  the  position  and  intentions  of  Jesus.  He 
probably  went  with  the  purpose  of  urging  some  special 
plan  of  action.  This  inexperienced  Galilean  could  not 
be  supposed  to  understand  the  populace  of  Jerusalem 
as  well  as  the  old  member  of  the  Sanhedrim,  who  was 
familiar  with  all  the  outs  and  ins  of  party  politics  in 
the  metropolis.  Nicodemus  would  therefore  go  and 
advise  Him  how  to  proceed  in  proclaiming  the  kingdom 
of  God  ;  or  at  least  sound  Him,  and,  if  he  found  Him 
amenable  to  reason,  encourage  Him  to  proceed,  and 
warn  Him  against  the  pitfalls  that  lay  in  His  path. 
Modestly,  and  as  if  speaking  for  others  as  much  as  for 
himself,  he  says :  "  Rabbi,  we  know  that  Thou  art  a 
Teacher  come  from  God,  for  no  man  can  do  these 
miracles  that  Thou  doest  except  God  be  with  Him  I ' 


104  T^^  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

There  is  here  neither  patronizing  acknowledgment 
nor  flattery,  but  merely  the  natural  first  utterance  of  a 
man  who  must  say  something  to  show  the  state  of  his 
mind.  It  served  to  reveal  the  point  at  which  Nicodemus 
had  arrived,  and  the  ground  on  which  the  conversation 
might  proceed.  But  "  Jesus  knew  what  was  in  man." 
In  this  acknowledgment  of  His  miracles  on  the  part 
of  Nicodemus,  Jesus  saw  the  whole  mental  attitude  of 
the  man.  He  saw  that  if  Nicodemus  had  uttered  all 
that  was  in  his  mind  he  would  have  said :  "  I  believe 
you  are  sent  to  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel,  and  I 
am  come  to  advise  with  you  on  your  plan  of  operation, 
and  to  urge  upon  you  certain  lines  of  action."  And 
therefore  Jesus  promptly  cuts  him  short  by  saying : 
"  The  kingdom  of  God  is  quite  another  thing  than  you 
are  thinking  of;  and  the  way  to  establish  it,  to  enlist 
citizens  in  it,  is  very  different  from  the  way  you  have 
been  meditating." 

In  fact,  Jesus  was  becoming  embarrassed  by  His  own 
miracles.  They  were  attracting  the  wrong  kind  of 
people — the  superficial  worldly  people ;  the  people  who 
thought  a  daring  and  strong  hand  with  a  dash  of  magic 
would  serve  all  their  turn.  His  mind  was  full  of  this, 
and  as  soon  as  He  has  an  opportunity  of  uttering  Him- 
self on  this  point  He  does  so,  and  assures  Nicodemus, 
as  a  representative  of  a  large  number  of  Jews  who 
iieeded  this  teaching,  that  all  their  thoughts  about  the 
kingdom  must  be  ruled  by  this  principle,  and  mus» 
start  from  this  great  truth,  that  it  was  a  kingdom  into 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  alone  could  give  entrance,  and 
could  give  entrance  only  by  making  men  spiritual. 
That  is  to  say,  that  it  was  a  spiritual  kingdom,  an 
inward  rule  over  the  hearts  of  men,  not  an  outward 
empire — a  kingdom  to  be  established,  not  by  political 


ii.  23-iii.  8.]  NICODEMUS,  105 

craft  and  midnight  meetings,  but  by  internal  change 
and  submission  in  heart  to  God — a  kingdom,  therefore, 
into  which  admission  could  be  given  only  on  some 
more  spiritual  ground  than  the  mere  circumstance  of 
a  man's  natural  birth  as  a  Jew. 

In  our  Lord's  language  there  was  nothing  that  need 
have  puzzled  Nicodemus.  In  religious  circles  in  Jeru- 
salem there  was  nothing  being  talked  of  but  the 
kingdom  of  God  which  John  the  Baptist  had  declared 
to  be  at  hand.  And  when  Jesus  told  Nicodemus  that 
in  order  to  enter  this  kingdom  he  must  be  born  again, 
He  told  him  just  what  John  had  been  telling  the  whole 
people.  John  had  assured  them  that,  though  the  King 
was  in  their  midst,  they  must  not  suppose  they  were 
already  within  His  kingdom  by  being  the  children  of 
Abraham.  He  excommunicated  the  whole  nation,  and 
taught  them  that  it  was  something  different  from  natural 
birth  that  gave  admission  to  God's  kingdom.  And 
just  as  they  had  compelled  Gentiles  to  be  baptized,  and 
to  submit  to  other  arrangements  when  they  wished  to 
partake  of  Jewish  privileges,  so  John  compelled  them 
to  be  baptized.  The  Gentile  who  wished  to  become 
a  Jew  had  to  be  symbolically  born  again.  He  had  to 
be  baptized,  going  down  under  the  cleansing  waters, 
washing  away  his  old  and  defiled  life,  being  buried  by 
baptism,  disappearing  from  men's  sight  as  a  Gentile, 
and  rising  from  the  water  as  a  new  man.  He  was  thus 
born  of  water,  and  this  time  born,  not  a  Gentile,  but 
a  Jew. 

The  language  of  our  Lord  then  could  scarcely  puzzle 
Nicodemus,  but  the  idea  did  stagger  him  that  not 
only  Gentiles  but  Jews  must  be  born  again.  John  had 
indeed  required  the  same  preparation  for  entrance  to 
the  kingdom;  but  the  Pharisees  had  not  listened  to 


I06  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

John,  and  were  offended  precisely  on  the  ground  of  his 
baptism.  But  now  Jesus  presses  upon  Nicodemus  the 
very  same  truth,  that  as  the  Gentile  had  to  be  naturalized 
and  born  again  that  he  might  rank  as  a  child  of  Abra- 
ham, and  enjoy  the  external  privileges  of  the  Jew,  so 
must  the  Jew  himself  be  bom  again  if  he  is  to  rank  as 
a  child  of  God  and  to  belong  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 
He  must  submit  to  the  double  baptism  of  water  and 
of  the  Spirit — of  water  for  the  pardon  and  cleansing  of 
past  sin  and  defilement,  of  the  Spirit  for  the  inspira- 
tion of  a  new  and  holy  life. 

Our  Lord  here  speaks  of  the  second  birth  as  com- 
pleted by  two  agencies,  water  and  the  Spirit.  To  make 
<he  one  of  these  merely  the  symbol  of  the  other  is  to 
miss  His  meaning.  The  Baptist  baptized  with  water 
for  the  remission  of  sins,  but  he  was  always  careful  to 
disclaim  power  to  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  His 
baptism  with  water  was  of  course  symbolical ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  water  itself  exercised  no  spiritual  influence, 
but  merely  represented  to  the  eye  what  was  invisibly 
done  in  the  heart.  But  that  which  it  symbolised  was 
not  the  life-giving  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but 
the  washing  away  of  sin  from  the  soul.  Assurance 
of  pardon  John  was  empowered  to  give.  Those  who 
humbly  submitted  to  his  baptism  with  confession  of 
their  sins  went  from  it  forgiven  and  cleansed.  But 
more  than  that  was  needed  to  make  them  new  men — 
and  yet  more  he  could  not  give.  For  that  which  would 
fill  them  with  new  life  they  must  go  to  a  Greater  than 
he,  who  alone  could  bestow  the  Holy  Ghost 

These  then  are  the  two  great  incidents  of  the  second 
birth — the  pardon  of  sin,  which  is  preparatory,  and 
which  cuts  our  connection  with  the  past ;  the  com- 
munication of  life  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  fits  u« 


ii.  23-iii.  8.]  NICODEMUS.  107 

for  the  future.  Both  of  these  are  represented  by 
Christian  baptism  because  in  Christ  we  have  both ;  but 
those  who  were  baptized  by  John's  baptism  were  only 
prepared  for  receiving  Christ's  Spirit  by  receiving  the 
forgiveness  of  their  sins. 

Having  thus  declared  to  Nicodemus  the  necessity 
of  the  second  birth,  He  goes  on  to  give  the  reason  of 
this  necessity.  Birth  by  the  Spirit  is  necessary,  because 
that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  spiritual.  Of  course  our  Lord  does 
not  mean  by  flesh  the  mere  tangible  substance  of  the 
body ;  He  does  not  mean  that  our  first  and  natural 
birth  puts  us  in  possession  of  nothing  but  a  material 
frame.  By  the  word  "  flesh"  He  signifies  the  appetites, 
desires,  faculties,  which  animate  and  govern  the  body, 
as  well  as  the  body  itself— the  whole  equipment  with 
which  nature  furnishes  a  man  for  life  in  this  world. 
This  natural  birth  gives  a  man  entrance  into  much, 
and  for  ever  determines  much,  that  has  important 
bearings  on  his  person,  character,  and  destiny.  It 
determines  all  differences  of  nationality,  of  tempera- 
ment, 'of  sex  ;  apart  altogether  from  any  choice  of  his  it 
is  determined  whether  he  shall  be  a  South  Sea  Islander 
or  a  European ;  an  antediluvian  living  in  a  cave  or 
an  EngUshman  of  the  nineteenth  century.  But  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  a  spiritual  kingdom,  into  which 
entrance  can  be  had  only  by  a  man's  own  will  and 
spiritual  condition,  only  by  an  attachment  to  God  which 
is  no  part  of  a  man's  natural  equipment. 

As  soon  as  we  clearly  see  what  the  kingdom  of  God 
is,  we  see  also  that  by  nature  we  do  not  belong  to  it. 
The  kingdom  of  God  so  far  as  man  is  concerned  is  a 
state  of  willing  subjection  to  Him — a  state  in  which 
we  are  in  our  right  relation  to  Him.     All  irrational 


io8  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

creatures  obey  God  and  do  His  will :  the  sun  runs  his 
course  with  an  exactness  and  punctuality  we  cannot 
rival ;  the  grace  and  strength  of  many  of  the  lower 
animals,  their  marvellous  instincts  and  aptitudes,  are 
so  superior  to  anything  in  ourselves  that  we  cannot 
even  comprehend  them.  But  what  we  have  as  our 
speciality  is  to  render  to  God  a  willing  service ;  to 
understand  His  purposes  and  enter  sympathetically 
into  them.  The  lower  creatures  obey  a  law  impressed 
upon  their  nature ;  they  cannot  sin  ;  their  performance 
of  God's  will  is  a  tribute  to  the  power  which  made 
them  so  skilfully,  but  it  lacks  all  conscious  recognition 
of  His  worthiness  to  be  served  and  all  knowledge  of 
His  object  in  creation.  It  is  God  serving  Himself :  He 
made  them  so,  and  therefore  they  do  His  will.  So  it  is 
with  men  who  merely  obey  their  nature  :  they  may  do 
kindly,  noble,  heroic  actions,  but  they  lack  all  reference 
to  God ;  and  however  excellent  these  actions  are,  they 
give  no  guarantee  that  the  men  who  do  them  would  sym- 
pathize with  God  in  all  things,  and  do  His  will  gladly. 

Indeed,  to  establish  the  proposition  that  flesh  or 
nature  does  not  give  us  entrance  into  God's  kingdom, 
we  need  go  no  further  than  our  own  consciousness. 
Remove  the  restraints  which  grace  puts  upon  our 
nature,  and  we  are  aware  that  we  are  not  in  sympathy 
with  God,  fond  of  His  will,  disposed  for  His  service. 
Let  nature  have  its  swing,  and  every  man  knows  it  is 
not  the  kingdom  of  God  it  takes  him  to.  To  all  men 
it  is  natural  to  eat,  drink,  sleep,  think  ;  we  are  born 
to  these  things,  and  need  to  put  no  constraint  on  our 
nature  to  do  them ;  but  can  any  man  say  it  has  come 
naturally  to  him  to  be  what  he  ought  to  be  to  God  ? 
Do  we  not  to  this  hour  feel  drawn  away  from  God  as 
if  we  were  not  in  our  element  in  His  presence?     Flesh, 


a.  a3-iiL  8.]  NICODEMUS.  109 

nature,  in  God's  presence  is  as  much  out  of  its  element 
as  a  stone  in  the  air  or  a  fish  out  of  water.  Men  who 
have  had  the  deepest  religious  experience  have  seen 
it  most  clearly,  and  have  felt,  like  Paul,  that  the  flesh 
lusts  against  the  spirit,  and  draws  us  ever  back  from 
entire  submission  to  God  and  delight  in  Him. 

Perhaps  the  necessity  of  the  second  birth  may  be 
more  clearly  apprehended  if  we  consider  it  from  another 
point  of  view.  In  this  world  we  find  a  number  of  crea- 
tures which  have  what  is  known  as  animal  life.  They 
can  work,  and  feel,  and,  in  a  fashion,  think.  They  have 
wills,  and  certain  dispositions,  and  distinctive  character- 
istics. Every  creature  that  has  animal  life  has  a  certain 
nature  according  to  its  kind,  and  determined  by  its 
parentage;  and  this  nature  which  the  animal  receives 
from  its  parents  determines  from  the  first  the  capabilities 
and  sphere  of  the  animal's  life.  The  mole  cannot  soar 
in  the  face  of  the  sun  like  the  eagle ;  neither  can  the 
bird  that  comes  out  of  the  eagle's  egg  burrow  like  the 
mole.  No  training  can  possibly  make  the  tortoise  as 
swift  as  the  antelope,  or  the  antelope  as  strong  as  the 
lion.  If  a  mole  began  to  fly  and  enjoy  the  sunlight  it 
must  be  counted  a  new  kind  of  creature,  and  no  longer 
a  mole.  The  very  fact  of  its  passing  certain  limitations 
shows  that  another  nature  has  somehow  been  infused 
into  it.  Beyond  its  own  nature  no  animal  can  act. 
You  might  as  well  attempt  to  give  the  eagle  the  appear- 
ance of  the  serpent  as  try  to  teach  it  to  crawl.  Each 
kind  of  animal  is  by  its  birth  endowed  with  its  own 
nature,  fitting  it  to  do  certain  things,  and  making  other 
things  impossible.  So  is  it  with  us :  we  are  born  with 
certain  faculties  and  endowments,  with  a  certain  nature ; 
and  just  as  all  animals,  without  receiving  any  new, 
Individual,  supernatural  help  from  God,  can  act  accord- 


THE   GOSPEL   OF  ST.  JOHN. 


ing  to  their  nature,  so  can  we.  We,  being  human, 
have  a  high  and  richly-endowed  animal  nature,  a 
nature  that  leads  us  not  only  to  eat,  drink,  sleep,  and 
fight  like  the  lower  animals,  but  a  nature  which  leads 
us  to  think  and  to  love,  and  which,  by  culture  and 
education,  can  enjoy  a  much  richer  and  wider  life  than 
the  lower  creatures.  Men  need  not  be  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  in  order  to  do  much  that  is  admirable,  noble, 
lovely,  because  their  nature  as  animals  fits  them  for 
that.  If  we  were  to  exist  at  all  as  a  race  of  animals 
superior  to  all  others,  then  all  this  is  just  what  must  be 
found  in  us.  Irrespective  of  any  kingdom  of  God  at 
all,  irrespective  of  any  knowledge  of  God  or  reference 
to  Him,  we  have  a  life  in  this  world,  and  a  nature 
fitting  us  for  it.  And  it  is  this  we  have  by  our  natural 
birth,  a  place  among  our  kind,  an  animal  life.  The 
first  man,  from  whom  we  all  descend,  was,  as  St.  Paul 
profoundly  says,  "a  living  soul,"  that  is  to  say,  an 
animal,  a  living  human  being;  but  he  had  not  "a 
quickening  spirit,"  could  not  give  to  his  children 
spiritual  life  and  make  them  children  of  God. 

Now  if  we  ask  ourselves  a  little  more  closely.  What 
is  human  nature?  what  are  the  characteristics  by 
which  men  are  distinguished  from  all  other  creatures  ? 
what  is  it  which  marks  off  our  kind  from  every  other 
kind,  and  which  is  always  produced  by  human  parents  ? 
we  may  find  it  hard  to  give  a  definition,  but  one  or  two 
things  are  obvious  and  indisputable.  In  the  first  place, 
we  could  not  deny  human  nature  to  men  who  do  not 
love  God,  or  who  even  know  nothing  of  Him.  There 
are  many  whom  we  should  naturally  speak  of  as  remark- 
ably fine  specimens  of  human  nature,  who  yet  never 
think  of  God,  nor  in  any  way  acknowledge  Him.  It  is 
plain,  therefore,  that  the  acknowledgment  and  love  of 


L23-"i-8-]  NICODEMUS.  I" 

God,  which  give  us  entrance  into  His  kingdom,  are  nol 
a  part  of  our  nature,  are  not  the  gifts  of  our  birth. 

And  yet  is  there  anything  that  so  distinctly  separates 
us  from  the  lower  animals  as  our  capacity  for  God  and 
for  eternity?  Is  it  not  our  capacity  to  respond  to 
God's  love,  to  enter  into  His  purposes,  to  measure 
things  by  eternity,  that  is  our  real  dignity?  The 
capacity  is  there,  even  when  unused ;  and  it  is  this 
capacity  which  invests  man  and  all  his  works  with  an 
interest  and  a  value  which  attach  to  no  other  creature. 
Man's  nature  is  capable  of  being  born  again,  and  that 
is  its  peculiarity ;  there  is  in  man  a  dormant  or  dead 
capacity  which  nothing  but  contact  with  God,  the  touch 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  can  vivify  and  bring  into  actual 
exercise. 

That  there  should  be  such  a  capacity,  born  as  if 
dead,  and  needing  to  be  quickened  by  a  higher  power 
before  it  can  live  and  be  of  use,  need  not  surprise  us. 
Nature  is  full  of  examples  of  such  capacities.  All 
seeds  are  of  this  nature,  dead  until  favouring  circum- 
stances and  soil  quicken  them  into  life.  In  our  own 
body  there  are  similar  capacities,  capacities  which 
may  or  may  not  be  quickened  into  life.  In  the  lower 
animal-creation  many  analogous  capacities  are  found, 
which  depend  for  their  vivification  on  some  external 
agency  over  which  they  have  no  control.  The  egg  of 
a  bird  has  in  it  the  capacity  to  become  a  bird  like  the 
parent,  but  it  remains  a  dead  thing  and  will  corrupt  if 
the  parent  forsakes  it.  There  are  many  of  the  summer 
insects  which  are  twice-born,  first  of  their  insect  parents, 
and  then  of  the  sun :  if  the  frost  comes  in  place  of  the 
sun,  they  die.  The  caterpillar  has  already  a  life  of  its 
own,  with  which,  no  doubt,  it  is  well  content,  but 
enclosed  in   its  nature   as  a   creeping   thing  it  has  a 


Ill  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

capacity  for  becoming  something  different  and  higher 
It  may  become  a  moth,  or  a  butterfly ;  but  in  most  the 
capacity  is  never  developed,  they  die  before  they  reach 
this  end — their  circumstances  do  not  favour  their 
development.  These  analogies  show  how  common  it 
is  for  capacities  of  life  to  lie  dormant :  how  common  a 
thing  it  is  for  a  creature  in  one  stage  of  its  existence 
to  have  a  capacity  for  passing  into  a  higher  stage,  a 
capacity  which  can  be  developed  only  by  some  agency 
peculiarly  adapted  to  it. 

It  is  in  this  condition  man  is  born  of  his  human 
parents.  He  is  born  with  a  capacity  for  a  higher  life 
than  that  which  he  lives  as  an  animal  in  this  world. 
There  is  in  him  a  capacity  for  becoming  something 
different,  better  and  higher  than  that  which  he  actu- 
ally is  by  his  natural  birth.  He  has  a  capacity  which 
lies  dormant  or  dead  until  the  Holy  Ghost  comes  and 
quickens  it.  There  are  many  things,  and  great  things, 
man  can  do  without  any  further  Divine  assistance  than 
that  which  is  lodged  for  the  whole  race  in  the  natural 
laws  which  make  no  distinction  between  godly  and 
ungodly;  there  are  many  and  great  things  man  may 
do  by  virtue  of  his  natural  birth ;  but  one  thing  he 
cannot  do — he  cannot  quicken  within  himself  the 
capacity  to  love  God  and  to  live  for  Him.  For  this 
there  is  needed  an  influence  from  without,  the  efficient 
touch  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  impartation  of  His  life. 
The  capacity  to  be  a  child  of  God  is  man's,  but  the 
development  of  this  lies  with  God.  Without  the 
capacity  a  man  is  not  a  man,  has  not  that  which  is 
most  distinctive  of  human  nature.  Every  man  is  born 
with  that  in  him  which  the  Spirit  of  God  may  quicken 
into  Divine  life.  This  is  human  nature  ;  but  when  this 
capacity  is  so  quickened,  when  the  man  has  begun  to 


ft.^S'tti.l.]  mCODEMVS.  Ml 

live  as  a  child  of  God,  he  has  not  lost  his  human 
nature,  but  has  over  and  above  become  a  partaker  of 
the  Divine  nature.  When  the  image  of  God,  as  well 
as  of  his  earthly  parents,  becomes  manifest  in  a  man, 
then  his  human  nature  has  received  its  utmost  develop- 
ment,— he  is  bom  again. 

Of  the  Agent  who  accomplishes  this  great  trans- 
formation there  is  need  only  to  say  that  He  is  free  in 
His  operation  and  also  inscrutable.  He  is  like  the 
wind,  our  Lord  tells  us,  that  blows  where  it  lists.  We 
cannot  bring  the  Spirit  at  will ;  we  cannot  use  Him 
as  if  He  were  some  unintelligent  passive  instrument ; 
neither  can  we  subject  all  His  operations  to  our 
control.  The  grub  must  wait  for  those  natural  influ- 
ences which  are  to  transform  it ;  it  cannot  command 
them.  We  cannot  command  the  Spirit ;  but  we,  being 
free  agents  also,  can  do  more  than  wait, — we  can 
pray,  and  we  can  strive  to  put  ourselves  in  line  with 
the  Spirit's  operation.  Seamen  cannot  raise  the  wind 
nor  direct  its  course,  but  they  can  put  themselves  in 
the  way  of  the  great  regular  winds.  We  can  do  the 
same :  we  can  slowly,  by  mechanical  helps,  creep  into 
the  way  of  the  Spirit ;  we  can  set  our  sails,  doing  all 
we  think  likely  to  catch  and  utilize  His  influences — 
believing  always  that  the  Spirit  is  more  desirous  than 
we  are  to  bring  us  all  to  good.  Why  He  breathes  in 
one  place  while  all  around  lies  in  a  dead  calm  we  do 
not  know ;  but  as  for  the  wind's  variations  so  for  His, 
there  are  doubtless  sufficient  reasons.  We  need  not 
expect  to  see  the  Spirit's  working  separate  from  the 
working  of  our  own  minds ;  we  cannot  see  the  Spirit 
in  Himself — we  cannot  see  the  wind  that  moves  the 
ships,  but  we  can  see  the  ships  moving,  and  we  know 
that  without  the  wind  they  could  not  move. 

8 


114  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

If  this,  then,  be  the  line  on  which  our  human  nature 
can  alone  be  developed,  if  a  profound  harmony  with 
God  be  that  which  can  alone  give  permanence  and 
completeness  to  our  nature,  if  in  accordance  with  all 
that  we  see  in  the  world  around  us  some  men  fail  of 
attaining  the  end  of  their  creation,  and  lie  for  ever 
blighted  and  useless,  while  others  are  carried  forward 
to  fuller  and  more  satisfying  life,  we  cannot  but  ask 
with  some  anxiety  to  which  class  we  belong.  Good 
and  evil  are  in  the  world,  happiness  and  misery, 
victory  and  defeat ;  do  not  let  us  deceive  ourselves 
by  acting  as  if  there  were  no  difference  between  these 
opposites,  or  as  if  it  mattered  little  in  our  case  whether 
we  belong  to  the  one  side  or  the  other.  It  matters 
everything :  it  is  just  the  difference  between  eternal 
life  and  eternal  death.  Christ  did  not  come  to  play 
with  us,  and  startle  us  with  idle  tales.  He  is  the 
centre  and  fountain  of  all  truth,  and  what  He  says  fits 
in  with  all  we  see  in  the  world  around  us. 

But  in  endeavouring  to  ascertain  whether  the  great 
change  our  Lord  speaks  of  has  passed  upon  us,  our 
object  must  be  not  so  much  to  ascertain  the  time  and 
manner  of  our  new  birth  as  its  reality.  A  man  may 
know  that  he  has  been  born  though  he  is  not  able  to 
recall,  as  no  man  can  recall,  the  circumstances  of  his 
birth.  Life  is  the  great  evidence  of  birth,  natural  or 
spiritual.  We  may  desire  to  know  the  time  and  place 
of  birth  for  some  other  reason,  but  certainly  not  for 
this,  to  make  sure  we  have  been  born.  Of  that  there 
is  sufficient  evidence  in  the  fact  of  our  being  alive. 
And  spiritual  life  quite  as  certainly  implies  spiritual 
birth. 

Again,  we  must  keep  in  view  that  a  man  may  be 
born  though  not  yet  full  grown.     The  child  of  a  day 


iL^4M.8.]  NICODEMUS.  115 

old  has  as  truly  and  certainly  a  human  nature  as  the 
man  in  his  prime.     He  has  a  human  heart  and  mind, 
every  organ  of  body  and  soul,  though  as  yet  he  cannot 
use  them.     So  the  second  birth  impresses  the  image  of 
God  on  every  regenerate  soul.     It  may  not  as  yet  be 
developed  in  every  part,  but  all  its  parts  are  there  in 
germ.     It  is  not  a  partial  but  a  complete  result  which 
regeneration  effects.     It  is  not  one  member,  a  hand  or 
a  foot  that  is  born,  but  a  body,  a  complete  equipment  of 
the  soul  in  all  graces.     The  whole  character  is  regene- 
rated, so  that  the  man  is  fitted  for  all  the  duties  of  the 
Divine  life  whensoever  these  duties  shall  come  before 
him.     A  human  child  does  not  need  additions  made 
to  it  to  fit  it  for  new  functions :  it  requires  growth,  it 
requires  nurture,  it  requires  education  and  the  practice 
of  human  ways,  but  it  requires  no  new  organ  to  be 
inserted  into  its  frame ;  once  born  it  has  but  to  grow 
in  order  to  adapt  itself  with  ease  and  success  to  all 
human  ways  and   conditions.     And   if  regenerate  we 
have  that  in  us  which  with  care  and  culture  will  grow 
till  it  brings  us  to  perfect  likeness  to  Christ.     If  we  are 
not  growing,  if  we  remain  small,  puny,  childish  while 
we  should  be  adult  and  full  grown,  then  there  is  some- 
thing seriously  wrong,  which  calls  for  anxious  enquiry. 
But  above  all  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  a  new 
birth  that   is   required;   that   no   care   spent   on   our 
conduct,  no  improvement  and  refinement  of  the  natural 
man,  suffices.     For  flying  it  is  not  an  improved  cater- 
pillar that  is  needed,   it  is   a  butterfly ;  it  is   not   a 
caterpillar  of  finer  colour  or  more  rapid  movement  or 
larger  proportions,  it  is  a  new  creature.     We  recognise 
that  in  this  and  that  man  we  meet  there  is  something 
more  than  men  naturally  have ;  we  perceive  in  them 
a  taming,  chastening,  inspiring  principle.      We  rejoice 


il6  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST,  JOHN. 

all  the  more  when  we  see  it,  because  we  know  that 
no  man  can  give  it,  but  only  God.  And  we  mourn  its 
absence  because  even  when  a  man  is  dutiful,  affec- 
tionate, temperate,  honourable,  yet  if  he  have  not  grace, 
if  he  have  not  that  peculiar  tone  and  colour  which 
overspread  the  whole  character,  and  show  that  the  man 
is  living  in  the  light  of  Christ,  and  is  moved  by  love  to 
God,  we  instinctively  feel  that  the  defect  is  radical, 
that  as  yet  he  has  not  come  into  connection  with  the 
Eternal,  that  there  is  that  awanting  for  which  no 
natural  qualities,  however  excellent,  can  compensate — 
nay,  the  more  lovely  and  complete  the  natural  character 
is,  the  more  painful  and  lamentable  is  the  absence  of 
grace,  of  Spirit. 


VIIL 

THE  BRAZEN  SriRPENT. 


>I9 


**Nicodemus  answered  and  said  unto  Him,  How  can  these  things 
be  ?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  the  teacher  of  Israel, 
and  understandest  not  these  things?  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee, 
We  speak  that  we  do  know,  and  bear  witness  of  that  we  have  seen ; 
and  ye  receive  not  our  witness.  If  I  told  you  earthly  things,  and  ye 
believe  not,  how  shall  ye  believe,  if  I  tell  you  heavenly  things  ?  And 
no  man  hath  ascended  into  heaven,  but  He  that  descended  out  of 
heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man,  which  is  in  heaven.  And  as  Moses 
lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  man 
be  lifted  up :  that  whosoever  believeth  may  in  Him  have  etenial  life. 
For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life. 
For  God  sent  not  the  Son  into  the  world  to  judge  the  world ;  but  that 
the  world  should  be  saved  through  Him.  He  that  believeth  on  Him  is 
not  judged :  he  that  believeth  not  hath  been  judged  already,  because 
he  hath  not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God. 
And  this  is  the  judgment,  that  the  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and 
men  loved  the  darkness  rather  than  the  light ;  for  their  works  were 
evil.  For  every  one  that  doeth  ill  hateth  the  light,  and  cometh  not 
to  the  light,  lest  his  works  should  be  reproved.  But  he  that  doeth  the 
truth  Cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  works  may  be  made  manifest,  that 
they  have  been  wrought  in  God." — ^John  lit  9-21. 


tr9 


VIII. 

THE  BRAZEN  SERPENT. 

THERE  are  two  great  obstacles  to  human  progess, 
two  errors  which  retard  the  individual  and  the 
race,  two  inborn  prejudices  which  prevent  men  from 
choosing  and  entering  into  true  and  lasting  prosperity. 
The  first  is  that  men  will  always  persist  in  seeking 
their  happiness  in  something  outside  themselves ;  the 
second  is  that  even  when  they  come  to  see  where  true 
happiness  lies  they  cannot  find  the  way  to  it  In  our 
Lord's  time  even  wise  and  godly  people  thought  the 
permanent  glory  and  happiness  of  men  were  to  be 
found  in  a  free  state,  in  self-government,  lightened 
taxes,  impregnable  fortresses,  and  a  purified  social 
order.  And  they  were  not  altogether  wrong ;  but  the 
way  to  this  condition,  they  thought,  lay  through  the 
enthronement  of  a  strong-handed  monarch,  who  could 
gather  round  his  throne  wise  counsellors  and  devoted 
followers.  This  was  the  form  of  worldliness  which 
our  Lord  had  to  contend  with.  This  was  the  tendency 
of  the  unspiritual  mind  in  His  day.  But  in  every 
generation  and  in  all  men  the  same  radical  miscon- 
ceptions exist,  although  they  may  not  appear  in  the 
same  forms. 

In  dealing  with  Nicodemus,  a  sincere  and  thoroughly 
decent  but   unspiritual  man,  our   Lord  had   difficulty 
in    lifting    his   thoughts   off  what   was    external   and 
119 


lao  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

worldly  and  fixing  them  on  what  was  inward  and 
heavenly.*  And  in  order  to  effect  this,  He  told  him, 
among  other  things,  that  the  Son  of  man  was  indeed  to 
be  lifted  up— yes,  but  not  on  a  throne  set  up  in  Herod's 
palace.  He  was  to  be  conspicuous,  but  it  was  as  the 
Brazen  Serpent  was  conspicuous,  hanging  on  a  pole 
for  the  healing  of  the  people.  His  lifting  up,  His 
exaltation,  was  secure ;  He  was  to  be  raised  above 
every  name  that  is  named ;  He  was  destined  to  have 
the  pre-eminence  in  all  things,  to  be  exalted  above  all 
principalities  and  powers ;  He  was  to  have  all  power 
in  heaven  and  in  earth ;  He  was  to  be  the  true  and 
supreme  Lord  of  all, — yes ;  but  this  dignity  and  power 
were  to  be  attained  by  no  mere  official  appointment, 
by  no  accidental  choice  of  the  people,  by  no  mere 
hereditary  title,  but  by  the  sheer  force  of  merit,  by 
His  performing  services  for  men  which  made  the  race 
His  own,  by  His  leaving  no  depth  of  human  degra- 
dation unexplored,  by  a  sympathy  with  the  race  and 
with  individuals  which  produced  in  Him  a  total  self- 
abandonment,  and  suffered  Him  to  leave  no  grievance 
unconsidered,  no  wrong  unthought  of,  no  sorrow 
untouched.  There  is  no  royal  road  to  human  excel- 
lence; and  Jesus  could  reach  the  height  He  reached 
by  no  swift  ascension  of  a  throne  amidst  the  blare 
of  trumpets,  the  flaunting  of  banners,  and  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  crowd,  but  only  by  being  exposed  to  the 

'  In  saying,  "  Art  thou  the  teacher  of  Israel,  and  knowest  not  these 
things  ?  "  our  Lord  hints  that  it  is  bad  enough  for  an  ordinary  Israelite 
to  be  so  ignorant,  but  for  a  teacher  how  much  worse.  If  the  teacher  is 
thus  obtuse,  what  are  the  taught  likely  to  be?  Is  this  the  state  of 
matters  I  must  confront  ?  And  in  saying  that  the  subjects  of  conversa* 
tion  were  "earthly"  (ver.  12)  He  meant  that  the  necessity  of  regeneration 
or  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God  was  a  matter  open  to  observation 
and  its  occurrence  a  fact  which  might  be  tested  here  upon  earth. 


ilL9-ai.]  THE  BRAZEN  SERPENT.  lai 

keenest  tests  with  which  this  world  can  confront  and 
search  human  character,  by  being  put  through  the 
ordeal  of  human  life,  and  being  found  the  best  man 
among  us  ;  the  humblest,  the  truest ;  the  most  faithful, 
loving,  and  enduring ;  the  most  willing  servant  of  God 
and  man. 

It  was  this  which  Christ  sought  to  suggest  to 
Nicodemus,  and  which  we  all  find  it  hard  to  learn,  that 
true  glory  is  excellence  of  character,  and  that  this 
excellence  can  be  reached  only  through  the  difficulties, 
trials,  and  sorrows  of  a  human  life.  Christ  showed 
men  a  new  glory  and  a  new  path  to  it — not  by  arms, 
not  by  statesmanship,  not  by  inventions,  not  by 
literature,  not  by  working  miracles,  but  by  living  with 
the  poor  and  becoming  the  friend  of  forsaken  and 
wicked  men,  and  by  dying,  the  Just  for  the  unjust  He 
has  been  lifted  up  as  the  Brazen  Serpent  was.  He  has 
become  conspicuous  by  His  very  lowliness ;  by  a  self- 
sacrifice  so  complete  that  He  gave  His  all,  His  life. 
He  has  won  to  Himself  all  men  and  made  His  will 
supreme,  so  that  it  and  no  other  shall  one  day  every- 
where rule.  He  gave  Himself  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations,  and  the  very  death  which  seemed  to  extinguish 
His  usefulness  has  made  Him  the  object  of  worship 
and  trust  to  all. 

This  is  certainly  the  point  of  analogy  between  Him- 
self and  the  Brazen  Serpent  which  our  Lord  chiefly 
intended  to  suggest — that  as  the  serpent  was  lifted  up 
so  as  to  be  seen  from  every  part  of  the  camp,  even  so 
the  death  of  the  Son  of  man  was  to  make  Him  con- 
spicuous and  easily  discernible.  It  is  by  their  death 
that  many  men  have  become  immortalized  in  the 
memory  of  the  race.  Deaths  of  gallantry,  of  heroism, 
of  self-devotion  have  often  wiped  out  and  seemed  to 


IM  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

atone  for  preceding  lives  of  dissipation  and  uselessness. 
The  life  of  Christ  would  have  been  inefficient  without 
His  death.  Had  He  only  lived  and  taught,  we  should 
have  known  more  than  was  otherwise  possible,  but 
it  is  doubtful  whether  His  teaching  would  have  been 
much  listened  to.  It  is  His  death  in  which  all  men 
are  interested.  It  appeals  to  all.  A  love  that  gave 
its  life  for  them,  all  men  can  understand.  A  love  that 
atoned  for  sin  appeals  to  all,  for  all  are  sinners. 

But  though  this  is  the  chief  point  of  analogy  there 
are  others.  We  do  not  know  precisely  what  the 
Israelites  would  think  of  the  Brazen  Serpent.  We  need 
not  repeat  from  the  sacred  narrative  the  circum- 
stances in  which  it  was  formed  and  lifted  up  in  the 
wilderness.  The  singularity  of  the  remedy  provided 
for  the  plague  of  serpents  under  which  the  Israelites 
were  suffering,  consisted  in  this,  that  it  resembled  the 
disease.  Serpents  were  destroying  them,  and  from 
this  destruction  they  were  saved  by  a  serpent.  This 
special  mode  of  cure  was  obviously  not  chosen  without 
a  reason.  To  those  among  them  who  were  instructed 
in  the  symbolic  learning  of  Egypt  there  might  be  in 
this  image  a  significance  which  is  lost  to  us.  From  the 
earliest  times  the  serpent  had  been  regarded  as  man's 
most  dangerous  enemy — more  subtle  than  any  beast  of 
the  field,  more  sudden  and  stealthy  in  its  attack,  and 
more  certainly  fatal.  The  natural  revulsion  which  men 
feel  in  its  presence,  and  their  inability  to  cope  with  it, 
seemed  to  fit  it  to  be  the  natural  representative  of  the 
powers  of  spiritual  evlL  And  yet,  strangely  enough,  in 
the  very  countries  in  which  it  was  recognised  as  the 
symbol  of  all  that  is  deadly,  it  was  also  recognised 
as  the  symbol  of  life.  Having  none  of  the  ordinary 
members  or  weapons  of  the  wilder  lower  creatures,  it 


Ui9-«i.]  THE  BRAZEN  SERPENT.  Mj 

was  yet  more  agile  and  formidable  than  any  of  them  ; 
and,  casting  its  skin  annually,  it  seemed  to  renew  itself 
with  eternal  youth.  And  as  it  was  early  discovered 
that  the  most  valuable  medicines  are  poisons,  the 
serpent,  as  the  very  "  personification  of  poison,"  was 
looked  upon  as  not  only  the  symbol  of  all  that  is  deadly, 
but  also  of  all  that  is  health-giving.  And  so  it  has 
continued  to  be,  even  to  our  own  days,  the  recognised 
symbol  of  the  heaUng  art,  and,  wreathed  round  a  staff, 
as  Moses  had  it,  it  may  still  be  seen  sculptured  on  our 
own  hospitals  and  schools  of  medicine. 

But  whatever  else  the  agonised  people  saw  in  the 
brazen  image,  they  must  at  any  rate  have  seen  in  its 
limp  and  harmless  form  a  symbol  of  the  power  of  their 
God  to  make  all  the  serpents  round  about  them  as 
harmless  as  this  one.  The  sight  of  it  hanging  with 
drooping  head  and  motionless  fangs  was  hailed  with 
exultation  as  the  trophy  of  deliverance  from  all  the 
venomous  creatures  it  represented.  They  saw  in  it 
their  danger  at  an  end,  their  enemy  triumphed  over, 
their  death  slain.  They  knew  that  the  manufactured 
serpent  was  only  a  sign,  and  had  in  itself  no  healing 
virtue,  but  in  looking  at  it  they  saw,  as  in  a  picture, 
God's  power  to  overcome  the  most  noxious  of  evils. 

That  which  Moses  lifted  up  for  the  healing  of  the 
Israelites  was  a  likeness,  not  of  those  who  were  suffer- 
ing, but  of  that  from  which  they  were  suffering.  It 
was  an  image,  not  of  the  swollen  limbs  and  discoloured 
face  of  the  serpent-bitten,  but  of  the  serpents  that 
poisoned  them.  It  was  this  image,  representing  as 
slain  and  harmless  the  creature  which  was  destroying 
them,  which  became  the  remedy  for  the  pains  it  inflicted. 
Similarly,  our  Lord  instructs  us  to  see  in  the  cross  not 
so  much  our  own  nature  suffering  the  extreme  agony 


i^  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

and  then  hanging  lifeless,  as  sin  suspended  harmless 
and  dead  there.  All  the  virus  seemed  to  be  extracted 
from  the  fiery,  burning  fangs  of  the  snakes,  and  hung 
up  innocuous  in  that  brazen  serpent ;  so  all  the  viru- 
lence and  venom  of  sin,  all  that  is  dangerous  and  deadly 
in  it,  our  Lord  bids  us  believe  is  absorbed  in  His  person 
and  rendered  harmless  on  the  cross. 

With  this  representation  the  language  of  Paul  per- 
fectly agrees.  God,  he  tells  us,  "  made  Christ  to  be 
sin  for  us."  It  is  strong  language ;  yet  no  language 
that  fell  short  of  this  would  satisfy  the  symbol.  Christ 
was  not  merely  made  man,  He  was  made  sin  for  us. 
Had  He  merely  become  man,  and  thus  become  involved 
in  our  sufferings,  the  symbol  of  the  serpent  would 
scarcely  have  been  a  fair  one.  A  better  image  of  Him 
would  in  that  case  have  been  a  poisoned  Israelite. 
His  choice  of  the  symbol  of  the  brazen  serpent  tc 
represent  Himself  upon  the  cross  justifies  Paul's 
language,  and  shows  us  that  He  habitually  thought 
of  His  own  death  as  the  death  of  sin. 

Christ  being  lifted  up,  then,  meant  this,  whatever 
else,  that  in  His  death  sin  was  slain,  its  power  to  hurt 
ended.  He  being  made  sin  for  us,  we  are  to  argue 
that  what  we  see  done  to  Him  is  done  to  sin.  Is  He 
smitten,  does  He  become  accursed,  does  God  deliver 
Him  to  death,  is  He  at  last  slain  and  proved  to  be 
dead,  so  certainly  dead  that  not  a  bone  of  Him  need  be 
broken  ?  Then  in  this  we  are  to  read  that  sin  is  thus 
doomed  by  God,  has  been  judged  by  Him,  and  was  in 
the  cross  of  Christ  slain  and  put  an  end  to — so  utterly 
slain  that  there  is  left  in  it  not  any  so  faint  a  flicker 
or  pulsation  of  life  that  a  second  blow  need  be  given 
to  prove  it  really  dead. 

When  we  strive  to  get  a  little  closer  to  the  reality 


ai.9-2i.]  THE  BRAiEN  SERPENt,  1*5 

and  understand  in  what  sense,  and  how,  Christ  re- 
presented sin  on  the  cross,  we  recognise  first  of  all  that 
it  was  not  by  His  being  in  any  way  personally  tainted 
by  sin.  Indeed,  had  He  Himself  been  in  the  faintest 
degree  tainted  by  sin  this  would  have  prevented  Him 
from  representing  sin  on  the  cross.  It  was  not  an 
actual  serpent  Moses  suspended,  but  a  serpent  of  brass. 
It  would  have  been  easy  to  kill  one  of  the  snakes 
that  were  biting  the  people,  and  hang  up  its  body. 
But  it  would  have  been  useless.  To  exhibit  one  slain 
snake  would  only  have  suggested  to  the  people  how 
many  were  yet  alive.  Being  itself  a  real  snake,  it  could 
have  no  virtue  as  a  symbol.  Whereas  the  brazen 
serpent  represented  all  snakes.  In  it  each  snake 
seemed  to  be  represented.  Similarly,  it  was  not  one 
out  of  a  number  of  real  sinners  that  was  suspended  on 
the  cross,  but  it  was  one  made  "  in  the  likeness  of 
sinful  flesh."  So  that  it  was  not  the  sins  of  one  person 
which  were  condemned  and  put  an  end  to  there,  but 
sin  generally. 

This  was  easily  intelligible  to  those  who  saw  the 
crucifixion.  John  the  Baptist  had  pointed  to  Jesus  as 
the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 
How  does  a  Lamb  take  away  sin  ?  Not  by  instruc- 
tion, not  by  example,  but  by  being  sacrificed  ;  by 
standing  in  the  room  of  the  sinner  and  suffering 
instead  of  him.  And  when  Jesus,  Himself  without  sin, 
hung  upon  the  cross,  those  who  knew  His  innocence 
perceived  that  it  was  as  the  Lamb  of  God  He  suflfered, 
and  that  by  His  death  they  were  delivered. 

Another  point  of  analogy  between  the  lifting-up  of 
the  serpent  and  the  lifting-up  of  the  Son  of  Man  on  the 
cross  is  to  be  found  in  the  circumstance  that  in  each 
case  the  healing  result  is  effected  through  a  moral  act 


isi  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

on  the  part  of  the  healed  person.  A  look  at  the  brazen 
serpent  was  all  that  was  required.  Less  could  not 
have  been  asked  :  more,  in  some  cases,  could  not  have 
been  given.  If  deliverance  from  the  pain  and  danger 
of  the  snake-bite  had  been  all  that  God  desired,  He 
might  have  accomplished  this  without  any  concurrence 
on  the  part  of  the  Israelites.  But  their  present  agony 
was  the  consequence  of  their  unbelief,  and  distrust, 
and  rebellion;  and  in  order  that  the  cure  may  be 
complete  they  must  pass  from  distrust  to  faith,  from 
alienation  to  confidence  and  attachment.  This  cannot 
be  accomplished  without  their  own  concurrence.  But 
this  concurrence  may  be  exercised  and  may  be  exhibited 
in  connection  with  a  small  matter  quite  as  decisively 
as  in  connection  with  what  is  difficult.  To  get  a  dis- 
obedient and  stubborn  child  to  say,  "  I  am  sorry,"  or 
to  do  the  smallest  and  easiest  action,  is  quite  as  difficult, 
if  it  be  a  test  ©f  submission,  as  to  get  him  to  run  a 
mile,  or  perform  an  hour's  task.  So  the  mere  uplifting 
of  the  eye  to  the  brazen  serpent  was  enough  to  show 
that  the  Israelite  believed  God's  word,  and  expected 
healing.  It  was  in  this  look  that  the  will  of  man  met 
and  accepted  the  will  of  God  in  the  matter.  It  was  by 
this  look  the  pride  which  had  led  them  to  resist  God 
and  rely  upon  themselves  was  broken  down ;  and  in 
the  momentary  gaze  at  the  remedy  appointed  by  God 
the  tormented  Israelite  showed  his  reliance  upon  God, 
his  willingness  to  accept  His  help,  his  return  to  God. 

It  is  by  a  similar  act  we  receive  healing  from  the 
cross  of  Christ.  It  is  by  an  act  which  springs  from  a 
similar  state  of  mind.  "Every  one  that  believeth,^* — 
that  is  all  that  is  required  of  any  who  would  be  healed 
of  sin  and  its  attendant  miseries.  It  is  a  little  and  an 
easy  thing  in  itself,  but  it  indicates  a  great  and  difficult 


iu.9-»i.j  THE  BRAZEN  SERPENT.  \^ 

change  of  mind.  It  is  so  slight  and  easy  an  action 
that  the  dying  can  do  it.  The  feeblest  and  most 
ignorant  can  turn  in  thought  to  Him  who  died  upon 
the  cross,  and  can,  with  the  dying  thief,  say,  "Lord, 
remember  me."  All  that  is  required  is  a  sincere  prayer 
to  Christ  for  deliverance.  But  before  anyone  can  so  pray, 
he  must  hate  the  sin  he  has  loved,  and  must  be  willing 
to  submit  to  the  God  he  has  abandoned.  And  this  is 
a  great  change ;  too  difficult  for  many.  Not  all  these 
Israelites  were  healed,  though  the  cure  was  so  accessible. 
There  were  those  who  were  already  insensible,  torpid 
with  the  heavy  poison  that  ran  through  their  blood. 
There  were  those  whose  pride  could  not  be  broken,  who 
would  rather  die  than  yield  to  God.  There  were  those 
who  could  not  endure  the  thought  of  a  life  in  God's 
service.  And  there  are  those  now  who,  though  they 
feel  the  sting  of  sin,  and  are  convulsed  and  tormented 
by  it,  cannot  bring  themselves  to  seek  help  from  Christ. 
There  are  those  who  do  not  believe  Christ  can  deliver 
them ;  and  there  are  those  to  whom  deliverance  weighted 
with  obligation  to  God,  and  giving  health  to  serve  Him, 
seems  equally  repugnant  with  death  itself.  But  where 
there  is  a  sincere  desire  for  reconcilement  with  God, 
and  for  the  holiness  which  maintains  us  in  harmony 
with  God,  all  that  is  needed  is  trust  in  Christ,  the 
belief  that  God  has  appointed  Him  to  be  our  Saviour, 
and  the  daily  use  of  Him  as  our  Saviour. 

In  proceeding  to  make  a  practical  use  of  what  our 
Lord  here  teaches,  our  first  duty,  plainly,  is  to  look  to 
Him  for  life.  He  is  exhibited  crucified  —it  is  our  part 
to  trust  in  Him,  to  appropriate  for  our  own  use  His 
saving  power.  We  need  it  We  know  something  of 
the  deadly  nature  of  sin,  and  that  with  the  first  touch 
of  its  fang  death  enters  our  frame.     We  have  found 


la  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

our  lives  poisoned  by  it.  Nothing  can  well  be  a  fitter 
picture  of  the  havoc  sin  makes  than  this  plague  of 
serpents — the  slender  weapon  sin  uses,  the  slight 
external  mark  it  leaves,  but,  within,  the  fevered  blood, 
the  fast  dimming  sight,  the  throbbing  heart,  the  con- 
vulsed frame,  the  rigid  muscles  no  longer  answering 
to  our  will.  Do  we  not  find  ourselves  exposed  to  sin 
wherever  we  go  ?  In  the  morning  our  eyes  open  on  its 
vibrating  fangs  ready  to  dart  upon  us ;  as  we  go  about 
our  ordinary  employments  we  have  trodden  on  it  and 
been  bitten  ere  we  are  aware;  in  the  evening,  as  we 
rest,  our  eye  is  attracted,  and  fascinated,  and  held  by 
its  charm.  Sin  is  that  from  which  we  cannot  escape, 
from  which  we  are  at  no  time,  nor  in  any  place,  secure ; 
from  which,  in  point  of  fact,  no  one  of  us  has  escaped, 
and  which  in  every  case  in  which  it  has  touched  a  man 
has  brought  death  along  with  it.  Death  may  not  at 
once  appear ;  it  may  appear  at  first  only  in  the  form  of 
a  gayer  and  intenser  Ufe ;  as,  they  tell  us,  there  is  one 
poison  which  causes  men  to  leap  and  dance,  and 
another  which  distorts  the  face  of  the  dying  with  a 
hideous  imitation  of  laughter.  Is  that  not  a  diseased 
soul  which  has  no  vigour  for  righteous  and  self- 
sacrificing  work;  whose  vision  is  so  dim  it  sees  no 
beauty  in  holiness? 

Of  this  condition,  faith  in  God  through  Christ  is  the 
true  remedy.  Return  to  God  is  the  beginning  of  all 
healthy  spiritual  life.  Faith  means  that  all  distrust,  all 
resentment  at  what  has  happened  in  our  life,  all  proud 
and  all  despondent  thoughts,  are  laid  aside.  To  believe 
that  God  is  loving  us  tenderly  and  wisely,  and  to  put 
ourselves  unreservedly  into  His  hand,  is  eternal  life 
bq;un  in  the  souL 


IX. 

THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARiJL 


It9 


"  When  therefore  the  Lord  knew  how  that  the  Pharisees  had  heard 
that  Jesus  was  making  and  baptizing  more  disciples  than  John  (althougli 
Jesus  Himself  baptized  not,  but  His  disciples),  He  left  Judaea,  and  de- 
parted again  into  Galilee.  And  He  must  needs  pass  through  Samaria. 
So  He  Cometh  to  a  city  of  Samaria,  called  Sychar,  near  to  the  parcel  of 
ground  that  Jacob  gave  to  his  son  Joseph  :  and  Jacob's  well  was  there. 
Jesus  therefore,  being  wearied  with  His  journey,  sat  thus  by  toe  ""ell. 
It  was  about  the  sixth  hour.  There  cometh  a  woman  of  Samaria  to 
draw  water :  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Give  Me  to  drink.  For  His  disciples 
were  gone  away  into  the  city  to  buy  food.  The  Samaritan  woman  there- 
fore saith  unto  Him,  How  is  it  that  Thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of 
me,  which  am  a  Samaritan  woman  ?  (For  Jews  have  no  dealings  with 
.'^amaritans.)  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her.  If  thou  knewest  the 
gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee.  Give  Me  to  drink ;  thou 
wouldest  have  asked  of  Him,  and  He  would  have  given  thee  living  water. 
The  woman  saith  unto  Him,  Sir,  Thou  hast  nothing  to  draw  with,  and 
the  well  is  deep :  from  whence  then  hast  Thou  that  living  water  ?  Art 
thou  greater  than  our  father  Jacob,  which  gave  us  the  well,  and  drank 
thereof  himself,  and  his  sons,  and  his  cattle  ?  Jesus  answered  and  said 
unto  her,  Every  one  that  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again  :  but 
whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never 
thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  become  in  him  a  well 
of  water  springing  up  unto  eternal  life.  The  woman  saith  unto  Him, 
Sir,  give  me  this  water,  that  I  thirst  not,  neither  come  all  the  way 
hither  to  draw.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Go,  call  thy  husband,  ard  coma 
hither  "—John  iv.  1-16. 


IX. 

THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARIA. 

rESUS  left  Jerusalem  because  His  miracles  were 
attracting  the  wrong  kind  of  people,  and  creating  a 
misconception  of  the  nature  of  His  kingdom.  He 
went  into  the  rural  districts,  where  He  had  simpler,  less 
sophisticated  persons  to  deal  with.  Here  He  gained 
many  disciples,  who  accepted  baptism  in  His  name. 
But  here  again  His  very  success  endangered  His 
attainment  of  His  great  end.  The  Pharisees,  hearing 
of  the  numbers  who  flocked  to  His  baptism,  fomented 
a  quarrel  between  His  disciples  and  those  of  John  ; 
and  would,  moreover,  have  probably  called  Him  to 
account  for  presuming  to  baptize  at  all.  But  why 
should  He  have  feared  a  collision  with  the  Pharisees  ? 
Why  should  He  not  have  proclaimed  Himself  the 
Messiah  ?  The  reason  is  obvious.  The  people  had 
not  had  suflicient  opportunity  to  ascertain  the  character 
of  His  work ;  and  only  by  going  about  among  them 
could  He  impress  upon  susceptible  spirits  a  true  sense 
of  the  nature  of  the  blessings  He  was  willing  to  bestow. 
To  the  woman  of  Samaria  He  did  not  hesitate  to  pro- 
claim Himself,  because  she  was  a  simple-minded  woman, 
who  was  in  need  of  sympathy  and  spiritual  strength. 
But  from  controversial  Pharisees,  who  were  prepared 
*o  settle  His  claims  by  one  or  two  trifling  theological 

»3i 


I3«  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

tests,  He  withdrew.  The  time  would  come  when, 
after  conferring  on  many  humble  souls  the  blessings 
of  the  kingdom,  He  must  publicly  proclaim  Himself 
King ;  but  as  yet  that  time  had  not  arrived,  and  there- 
fore He  left  Judaea  for  Galilee. 

A  line  drawn  from  Jerusalem  to  Nazareth  would 
pass  through  the  entire  breadth  of  Samaria,  and  quite 
close  to  the  town  of  Sychar.  Between  Judaea,  where 
Jesus  was,  and  Galilee,  where  He  wished  to  be,  the 
province  of  Samaria  intervened.  It  stretched  right 
across  from  the  sea  to  the  Jordan,  so  that  the  Jews, 
who  were  too  scrupulous  to  pass  through  Samaritan 
territory,  were  compelled  to  cross  the  Jordan  twice,  and 
make  a  considerable  detour  if  they  wished  to  go  to 
Galilee.  Our  Lord  had  no  such  scruples ;  besides,  the 
springs  near  Salim,  where  John  was  baptizing,  were 
not  far  from  Sychar,  and  He  might  wish  to  see  John 
on  His  way  north.  He  took,  therefore,  the  great  north 
road,  and  one  day  at  noon*  found  Himself  at  Jacob's 
well,  where  the  road  divides,  and  where,  at  any  rate,  it 
was  natural  that  a  tired  traveller  should  rest  during 
the  mid-day  hours.  Jacob's  well  is  still  extant,  and  is 
one  of  the  few  undisputed  localities  associated  with  our 
Lord's  life.  Travellers  of  all  shades  of  theological  opinion 
and  of  no  theological  opinion  are  agreed  that  the  deep 
well,  now  much  choked  with  debris,  lying  twenty  minutes 
east  of  NablQs,  is  the  veritable  well  on  the  stone  rim 
of  which  our  Lord  sat.  Ten  minutes'  walk  north  of 
this  well  lies  a  village  now  called  El-Askar,  which 
represents  in  name  and  partly  in  locality  the  Sychar 
of  the  text     Partly  in  locality  I  say,  for  "  Palestine 

'  Some  good  authorities  hold  that  John  reckoned  the  hours  of  the 
day  from  midnight,  not  from  sunrise.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  John 
adopted  the  Roman  reckoning,  and  counted  noon  the  sixth  hoar. 


iv.  1-16.]  THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARIA.  133 

was  ten  times  as  populous  in  the  days  of  our  Lord  as 
it  is  at  present ; "  and  there  is  therefore  good  ground  for 
the  supposition  that  although  now  but  a  little  village 
or  hamlet,  Sychar  was  then  considerably  larger,  and 
extended  nearer  to  the  well.  Coming,  then,  to  this 
well,  and  being  tired  with  the  forenoon's  walk,  our  Lord 
sat  down,  while  the  disciples  went  forward  to  the  town 
to  buy  bread. 

And  thus  arose  that  conversation  with  the  woman 
of  Sychar,  which  has  brought  hope  and  comfort  to 
many  a  thirsting  and  weary  soul  besides.  That  which 
struck  the  woman  herself  and  the  disciples  is  not  that 
which  is  likely  to  impress  us  most  distinctly.  We  all 
feel  the  unsurpassed  delicacy  and  grace  of  the  whole 
scene.  No  poet  ever  imagined  a  situation  in  which 
the  free  movements  of  human  nature,  the  picturesque- 
ness  of  outward  circumstance,  and  the  profoundest 
spiritual  interests  were  so  happily,  easily,  and  effect- 
ively combined.  Yet  the  chief  thing  which  struck  the 
woman  herself  and  the  disciples  was  the  ease  with 
which  Jesus  broke  down  the  wall  of  partition  which 
the  hatred  of  centuries  had  erected  between  Jew  and 
Samaritan. 

To  estimate  aright  the  magnanimity  and  originality 
of  our  Lord's  action  in  making  Himself  and  His  salva- 
tion accessible  to  this  woman,  the  marked  separation 
that  had  hitherto  existed  must  be  borne  in  mind.  The 
Samaritans  were  of  heathen  origin.  In  the  Second 
Book  of  Kings,  chap,  xvii,,  we  read  that  Shalmaneser, 
King  of  Assyria,  pursuing  the  usual  policy  of  his 
empire,  carried  the  Israelites  to  Babylonia,  and  sent 
colonists  from  Babylonia  to  occupy  their  cities  and 
land.  These  colonists  found  the  country  overrun  by 
wild  beasts,  which  had  multiplied  during  the  years  of 


134  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

depopulation ;  and  accepting  this  as  proof  that  the  God 
of  the  land  was  not  pleased,  they  begged  their  monarch 
to  send  them  an  Israelitish  priest,  who  would  teach 
them  the  manner  of  the  God  of  the  land.  Their  appli 
cation  was  granted,  and  an  adulterated  Judaism  was 
grafted  on  their  native  religion.  They  accepted  the 
five  Books  of  Moses,  and  looked  for  a  Messiah — as 
indeed  they  still  do.  The  origin  of  their  hatred  of  the 
Jews  is  told  in  Ezra.  When  the  Jews  returned  from 
exile  and  began  to  rebuild  the  temple,  the  Samaritans 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  share  in  the  work.  "  Let  us 
build  with  you,"  they  said,  "  for  we  seek  your  God  as 
ye  do ;  and  we  sacrifice  unto  Him  since  the  days  of 
Esarhaddon."  But  their  request  was  bluntly  refused ; 
they  were  treated  as  heathens,  who  had  no  part  in  the 
religion  of  Israel.  Hence  the  implacable  religious 
enmity  which  for  centuries  manifested  itself  in  all  sorts 
of  petty  annoyances,  and,  when  occasion  offered,  more 
serious  injuries. 

This  Samaritan  woman,  then,  was  taken  quite  aback 
when  the  quiet  figure  on  the  well,  which  by  dress  and 
accent  she  had  recognised  as  that  of  a  Jew,  uttered  the 
simple  request,  "  Give  me  to  drink."  As  any  Samaritan 
would  have  done,  she  twitted  the  Jew  with  showing  a 
frankness  and  friendliness  which  she  supposed  were 
wholly  due  to  His  own  keen  thirst  and  helplessness  to 
quench  it  But,  to  her  still  greater  surprise,  He  does 
not  wince  before  her  thrust,  nor  awkwardly  apologise, 
or  seek  to  explain,  but  gravely  and  earnestly,  and  with 
dignity,  utters  the  perplexing  but  thought-provoking 
words :  "  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it 
is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to  drink,  thou  wouldest 
have  asked  of  Him,  and  He  would  have  given  thee 
living  water."     He  perceived  the  interest  of  the  situa- 


iv.  1-16.]  THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARIA.  135 

tion,  saw  with  compassion  her  entire  ignorance  of  the 
presence  in  which  she  stood,  and  of  the  possibilities 
within  her  reach.  So  do  the  most  important  issues 
often  hinge  on  slight,  trivial,  every-day  incidents.  The 
turning-points  in  our  career  have  often  nothing  to 
show  that  they  are  turning-points.  We  unconsciously 
determine  our  future,  and  bind  ourselves  with  chains 
we  can  never  break,  by  the  way  in  which  we  deal  with 
apparent  trifles.  We  do  not  know  the  forces  that  lie 
hidden  all  around  us ;  and  for  want  of  knowledge  we 
miss  a  thousand  opportunities.  The  sick  man  drags 
out  a  miserable  existence,  incapacitated  and  useless, 
while  within  his  reach,  but  unrecognised,  is  a  remedy 
which  would  give  him  health.  It  is  often  by  a  very 
little  that  the  scientific  or  philosophical  student  fails  to 
make  the  discovery  he  seeks ;  one  more  fact  known, 
one  idea  fitted  into  its  proper  place,  and  the  thing  is 
done.  The  gold-digger  throws  aside  his  pick  in  despair 
at  the  very  point  where  another  stroke  would  have 
turned  up  the  ore.  So  with  some  among  ourselves ; 
they  pass  through  life  alongside  of  that  which  would 
make  all  eternity  different  to  them,  and  yet  for  lack 
of  knowledge,  for  lack  of  consideration,  the  thin  veil 
continues  to  hide  from  them  their  true  blessedness. 
Like  the  crew  that  were  perishing  from  thirst,  though 
surrounded  by  the  fresh  waters  of  the  River  Amazon 
that  penetrated  far  into  the  salt  ocean,  so  we,  sur- 
rounded on  all  hands  by  God  and  upheld  by  Him,  and 
living  in  Him,  yet  do  not  know  it,  and  refrain  from 
dipping  our  buckets  and  drawing  out  of  His  Hfe-giving 
fulness.  How  often,  looking  on  those  who,  like  this 
Samaritan  woman,  have  gone  wrong  and  know  no 
recovery,  who  go  through  their  daily  duties  sad  and 
heavy  at  heart  and  weary  of  sin — how  often  do  these 


13*  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN 

words  rise  to  our  lips,  "  If  only  thou  knewest."  How 
often  does  one  long  to  be  able  to  shed  a  sudden  and 
universal  light  into  the  minds  of  men  that  would  reveal 
to  them  the  goodness,  the  power,  the  all-conquering 
love  of  God.  Yes,  and  even  in  those  who  can  speak 
intelligently  of  things  Divine  and  eternal,  how  much 
blindness  remains.  For  the  knowledge  of  words  is 
one  thing,  the  knowledge  of  things,  of  realities,  is 
another.  And  many  who  can  speak  of  God's  love 
have  never  yet  seen  what  that  means  for  themselves. 
Certainly  it  is  true  of  us  all,  that  if  we  are  not  deriving 
from  Christ  what  we  recognise  as  living  water,  it  is 
because  there  is  a  defect  in  our  knowledge,  because  we 
do  not  know  the  gift  of  God. 

In  two  particulars  this  woman's  knowledge  was 
defective :  she  did  not  know  the  gift  of  God,  nor 
who  it  was  that  spoke  to  her. 

She  did  not  know  the  gift  of  God.  She  was  not  ex- 
pecting anything  from  that  quarter.  Her  expectations 
were  limited  by  her  earthly  condition  and  her  physical 
wants.  With  affections  worn  out,  with  character  gone, 
with  no  purifying  joy,  she  came  out  listlessly  day  b}' 
day,  filled  her  pitcher,  and  went  her  weary  way.  She 
had  no  thought  of  God's  gift,  no  belief  that  the  Eternal 
was  with  her,  and  desired  to  communicate  to  her  a 
spring  of  deep  and  ever-flowing  joy.  Doubtless  she 
would  have  acknowledged  God  as  the  Giver  of  all  good  ; 
but  she  had  no  idea  of  the  completeness  of  His  giving, 
of  the  freeness  of  His  love,  of  His  perception  and 
understanding  of  our  actual  wants,  of  the  joy  with 
which  He  provides  for  them  all.  Through  all  ages 
and  for  all  men  there  remains  this  gift  of  God,  sought 
and  found  by  those  who  know  it;  different  from  and 
superior   to   the   best   human    gifts,  inheritances,  and 


Iv.  1-16.]  THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARIA.  137 

acquisitions ;  not  to  be  drawn  out  of  the  deepest,  most 
cherished  well  of  human  sinking ;  steadily  arrogating 
to  itself  an  infinite  superiority  to  all  that  men  have 
regarded  and  busily  sunk  their  pitchers  in ;  a  gift 
which  each  man  must  ask  for  himself,  and  having  for 
himself  knows  to  be  the  gift  of  God  to  him,  the  recog- 
nition by  God  of  his  personal  wants,  and  the  assurance 
to  him  of  God's  everlasting  regard.  This  gift  of  God, 
that  carries  to  each  soul  the  sense  of  His  love,  is  His 
deliverance  from  evil.  It  is  His  answer  to  the  misery 
and  vanity  of  the  world  which  He  has  resolved  to 
redeem  to  worth  and  blessedness.  It  is  all  that  is  given 
in  Christ,  the  hope,  the  holy  impulses,  the  new  views 
of  life — but  above  all  it  is  the  means  of  conveyance 
that  brings  God  to  us,  His  love  to  our  hearts. 

What,  then,  can  teach  a  man  to  know  this  gift? 
What  can  make  a  man  for  a  while  forget  the  lesser 
gifts  that  perish  in  the  using  ?  What  can  reasonably 
induce  him  to  turn  from  the  accredited  sources  round 
which  men  in  all  ages  have  crowded,  what  can  induce 
him  to  forego  fame,  wealth,  bodily  comfort,  domestic 
happiness,  and  seek  first  of  all  God's  righteousness  ? 
May  we  not  all  well  pray  with  Paul,  "that  we  may 
have  not  the  spirit  of  the  world  but  the  Spirit  of  God, 
that  we  may  know  the  things  that  are  freely  given  us  of 
God;"  that  we  may  see  the  small  value  of  wealth  or 
power  or  any  of  those  things  which  can  be  won  by 
mere  wordly  prudence  or  greed ;  and  may  learn  fixedly 
to  believe  that  the  things  of  true  value  are  the  internal, 
spiritual  possessions,  which  the  unsuccessful  may  have 
as  well  as  the  successful,  and  which  are  not  so  much 
won  by  us  as  given  by  God? 

Jesus  further  describes  this  gift  as  "  living  water,* 
"       icription  suggested  by  the  circumstances,  and  only 


138  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

figurative.  Yet  it  is  a  figure  of  the  same  kind  as 
pervades  all  human  language.  Water  is  an  essential 
of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  With  a  constantly  recur- 
ring appetite  we  seek  it.  To  have  no  thirst  is  a 
symptom  of  disease  or  death.  But  the  soul  also,  not 
having  life  in  itself,  needs  to  be  sustained  from  without  ; 
and  when  in  a  healthy  state  it  seeks  by  a  natural 
appetite  that  which  will  sustain  it.  And  as  most  of 
our  mental  acts  are  spoken  of  in  terms  of  the  body,  as 
we  speak  of  seeing  truth  and  grasping  it,  as  if  the  mind 
had  hands  and  eyes,  so  David  naturally  exclaims,  "  My 
soul  thirsts  for  the  living  God."  In  the  living  soul 
there  is  a  craving  for  that  which  maintains  and  revives 
its  life,  which  is  analogous  to  the  thirst  of  the  body  for 
water.  The  dead  alone  feel  no  thirst  for  God.  The 
soul  that  is  alive  sees  for  a  moment  the  glory  and 
liberty  and  joy  of  the  life  to  which  God  calls  us;  it 
feels  the  attraction  of  a  life  of  love,  purity,  and  righteous- 
ness, but  it  seems  continually  to  sink  from  this  and  to 
tend  to  become  dull  and  feeble,  and  to  have  no  joy  in 
goodness.  Just  as  the  healthy  body  delights  in  work, 
but  wearies  and  cannot  go  on  exerting  itself  for  many 
hours  together,  but  must  repair  its  strength,  so  the 
soul  soon  wearies  and  sinks  back  from  what  is  difficult, 
and  needs  to  be  revived  by  its  appropriate  refresh- 
ment. 

And  this  woman,  if  for  a  moment  she  felt  as  if  Christ 
were  playing  with  her  or  making  her  enigmatical  offers 
that  could  never  bring  her  any  substantial  good,  was 
immediately  made  aware  that  He  who  made  these  offers 
had  fully  in  view  the  harshest  facts  of  her  domestic 
life.  Mystified,  she  is  also  attracted  and  expectant. 
She  cannot  mistake  the  sincerity  of  Jesus  ;  and,  scarcely 
knowing  what  she  asks,  and  with  her  mind  still  run- 


Iv.  1-16.]  THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARIA.  139 

ning  on  relief  from  her  daily  drudgery,  she  says,  "  Sir, 
give  me  this  water,  that  I  thirst  not,  neither  come 
hither  to  draw."  In  prompt  response  to  her  faith  Jesus 
says,  "  Go,  call  thy  husband,  and  come  hither."  The 
water  which  He  means  to  give  cannot  be  given  before 
thirst  for  it  is  awakened.  And  in  order  to  awaken  her 
thirst  He  turns  her  back  upon  the  shameful  wretched- 
ness of  her  life,  that  she  may  forget  the  water  of  Jacob's 
well  in  thirst  for  relief  from  shame  and  misery.  In 
requiring  her  thus  to  face  the  facts  of  her  guilty  life, 
in  encouraging  her  to  bring  clear  before  Him  all  her 
sinful  entanglement,  He  responds  to  her  request,  and 
gives  her  the  first  draught  of  living  water.  For  there 
is  no  abiding  spiritual  satisfaction  which  does  not  begin 
with  a  fair  and  frank  consideration  of  our  past,  and 
which  does  not  proceed  upon  the  actual  facts  ot  our 
own  life.  If  this  woman  is  to  enter  into  a  hopeful  and 
cleansed  life,  she  must  enter  through  confession  of  her 
need  of  cleansing.  No  one  can  slink  out  of  his  past 
life,  forgetting  or  huddling  up  what  is  shameful.  It  is 
only  through  truth  and  straightforwardness  we  can 
enter  into  that  hfe  which  is  all  truth  and  integrity. 
Before  we  drink  the  living  water  we  must  truly  thirst 
for  it. 

If  the  inquiry  be  more  closely  pressed,  and  if  it  be 
asked  what  this  Samaritan  woman  would  find  to  be 
living  water  to  her,  what  it  was  which,  after  Christ  had 
gone,  would  daily  renew  in  her  the  purpose  to  live  a 
better  life  and  to  bear  her  burden  cheerfully  and  hope- 
fully, it  will  be  seen  that  it  must  have  been  simply  the 
remembrance  of  Christ ;  the  knowledge  that  in  Christ 
Gk)d  had  sought  her,  had  claimed  her  in  the  midst  of 
her  evil  life  for  some  better  and  holier  thing,  had,  in  a 
word,  loved  her  through  all  her  sin,  and  sent  deliverance 


I4D  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

to  her.  It  is  still,  and  always,  this  knowledge  which 
comes  with  fresh  exhilarating  power  to  every  discon- 
solate, despairing,  fainting  soul.  The  knowledge  that 
there  is  One,  the  Holiest  of  all,  who  loves  us,  and  who 
will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  the  purest 
blessedness  for  us ;  the  knowledge  that  our  God  follows 
us,  forgives  us,  elevates  and  purifies  us  by  His  love, 
this  is  living  water  to  our  souls  ;  this  revives  us  to  the 
love  of  goodness,  and  braces  us  for  all  effort.  It  is  not 
a  little  cistern  that  soon  runs  dry.  To  the  end  of  a 
Christian's  life  this  fact  of  God's  love  in  Christ  comes 
as  fresh  and  as  reviving  to  the  soul  as  at  first ;  to  us 
this  day  it  has  the  same  power  of  supplying  motive  to 
our  life  as  it  had  when  Christ  spoke  to  the  woman. 

He  further  defines  the  gift  as  "  a  well  of  water  in  the 
soul  itself  springing  up  to  everlasting  life."  This  pecu- 
liarity of  the  water  He  Vt'ould  give  was  remarked  upon 
here  for  the  sake  of  contrasting  it  with  the  well  outside 
the  city  to  which  the  woman  in  all  weathers  had  to 
repair ;  often  wishing,  no  doubt,  as  she  went  out  in  the 
heat  or  in  the  rain,  that  she  had  a  well  at  her  door. 
The  source  of  spiritual  life  is  within  ;  it  cannot  be  inac- 
cessible ;  it  does  not  depend  on  anything  from  which 
we  may  be  separated.  And  this  is  man's  victory  and 
end  when  within  himself  he  has  the  source  of  life  and 
joy,  so  that  he  is  independent  of  circumstances,  of 
position,  of  things  present  and  tilings  to  come.  It  was 
a  commonplace  even  of  heathen  philosophy,  that  no  man 
is  happy  until  he  is  superior  to  fortune  ;  that  his  happi- 
ness must  have  an  inward  source,  must  depend  on  his 
own  spiritual  state,  and  not  on  outward  circumstances. 
Similarly  Solomon  thought  it  a  saying  worthy  of  pre- 
servation that  "  the  good  man  is  satisfied  from  himself; " 
tiMt  is,  he  shall  not  look  to  success  in  life,  or  to  com- 


W.  1-16.)  THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARIA.  141 

fortable  circumstances,  or  even  to  domestic  happiness 
or  the  society  of  old  friends,  as  a  sure  and  unfailing 
source  of  joy ;  but  shall  be  at  bottom  independent  of 
everything  save  what  he  carries  always  and  everywhere 
in  himself.  Nothing  is  more  pitiable  than  the  restless- 
ness one  sees  in  some  people ;  how  they  can  find 
nothing  in  themselves,  but  are  ever  going  from  place  to 
place,  from  entertainment  to  entertainment,  from  friend 
to  friend,  seeking  something  to  give  them  rest,  and 
finding  nothing,  because  they  seek  it  without  and  not 
within.  It  is  Christ  dwelling  in  the  heart  by  faith  that 
is  alone  the  fountain  of  living  water.  It  is  His  inward 
presence,  apprehended  by  faith,  by  imagination,  by 
knowledge,  that  revives  the  soul  continually.  It  is 
thus  that  God  makes  us  partakers  of  the  life  that  is 
only  in  Him,  linking  us  to  Himself  by  our  will,  by  all 
that  is  deepest  in  us,  and  so  producing  true  and  lasting 
spiritual  life. 

The  woman  was  blinded  by  her  ignorance  on  a 
second  point ;  she  did  not  know  who  it  was  that  said 
to  her,  "  Give  Me  to  drink."  Until  we  know  Christ  we 
cannot  know  God  :  it  is  to  Christ  we  owe  all  our  best 
thoughts  about  God.  This  woman,  when  she  had  met 
the  absolute  goodness  and  kindness  of  Christ,  had  for 
ever  different  thoughts  of  God.  So  as  we  look  at  Christ 
our  thought  of  God  expands,  and  we  learn  to  expect 
substantial  good  from  Him.  Yet  often,  like  this  woman, 
we  are  in  Christ's  presence  without  knowing  it,  and 
listen,  like  her,  to  His  appeals  without  understanding 
the  majesty  of  His  person  and  the  greatness  of  our 
opportunity.  He  does  offer  largely ;  He  speaks  as  if 
He  were  perfect  master  of  the  human  heart,  knew  its 
every  experience,  and  could  satisfy  it.  He  speaks  of 
the  gift  He  has  to  bestow  in  terms  which  convict  Him 


142  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

of  silly  and  heartless  extravagance  if  that  gift  be  not 
perfect ;  He  has,  in  plain  words,  misled  and  deceived 
a  large  part  of  mankind,  and  especially  those  who  were 
well  inclined  and  thirsting  for  righteousness,  if  He 
cannot  perfectly  satisfy  the  souL  He  challenges  men 
in  the  most  grievous  and  undone  conditions  to  come 
to  Him ;  He  calls  them  off  from  every  other  source 
and  stay,  and  bids  them  trust  to  Him  for  everything. 
If  a  man  expects  to  find  in  Him  all  that  the  human 
heart  can  contain  of  joy,  and  all  that  the  h'lraan  nature 
is  susceptible  of,  he  does  not  expect  more  than  the 
explicit  offers  of  Christ  Himself  warrant  Manifestly 
such  offers  are  at  least  worth  considering.  May  it  not 
be  true  that  if  we  were  to  awake  to  the  knowledge  of 
Christ,  we  might  now  find  His  pretensions  to  be  well 
founded  ?  He  professes  to  bestow  what  is  worth  our 
immediate  acceptance,  His  friendship,  His  Spirit.  What 
if  it  should  be  now  that  He  seeks  to  come  to  our  heart 
with  these  words,  "  If  thou  knewest  who  it  is  that 
speaketh."  Yes,  if  but  for  one  hour  wc  saw  God's  gift, 
and  Him  through  whom  He  offers  it,  we  should  become 
the  suppliants.  Christ  would  no  longer  need  to  knock 
at  our  door ;  we  should  wait  and  knock  at  His. 

For  in  truth  it  is  always  the  same  request  He  urges 
to  all.  In  His  words  to  the  woman,  "  Give  Me  to 
drink,"  there  was  more  than  the  mere  request  that  He 
would  lift  her  pitcher  to  His  lips.  Driven  from  Judsea, 
wearied  as  much  with  the  blindness  of  men  as  with 
His  journey,  He  sat  on  the  well.  Everything  He  saw 
had  that  day  some  spiritual  meaning  for  Him.  The 
bread  His  disciples  brought  reminded  Him  of  His  true 
support,  the  consciousness  that  He  was  doing  His 
Father's  will ;  the  fields  whitening  for  harvest  suggested 
to    Him   the   nations   unconsciously   ripening   for   the 


n.  I.i6.]  THE  WOMAN  OF  SAMARIA.  14J 

great  Christian  ingathering.  And  when  He  said  to  the 
woman,  "  Give  Me  to  drink,"  He  thought  of  the  intenser 
satisfaction  she  could  give  Him  by  confiding  in  Him 
and  accepting  His  help.  In  her  person  there  stands 
before  Him  a  new,  untried  race.  Oh  that  she  may 
prove  more  accessible  than  the  Jews,  and  may  allay 
His  thirst  for  the  salvation  of  men  I  His  parched 
tongue  seems  forgotten  in  the  interest  of  His  talk  with 
her.  And  to  which  of  us  has  He  not  in  this  sense 
said,  "  Give  Me  to  drink  "  ?  Is  it  cruelty  to  refuse  a 
cup  of  cold  water  to  a  thirsting  child,  and  none  to 
refuse  to  quench  the  thirst  of  Him  who  hung  upon  the 
cross  for  us  ?  Ought  we  to  feel  no  shame  that  the 
Lord  is  still  in  want  of  what  we  can  give  ?  This 
woman  knew  it  was  a  real  thirst  which  could  induce 
a  Jew  to  ask  drink  from  her.  Has  He  not  sufficiently 
shown  the  reality  of  His  thirst  for  our  friendship  and 
trust  ?  Could  it  be  a  feigned  desire  that  led  Him  to 
do  all  He  has  done  ?  Are  we  never  to  have  the  joy 
of  appropriating  His  love  as  spent  upon  us;  are  we 
never  with  humble  ecstasy  to  exclaim : — 

"  Weary  satst  Thou  seeking  mt, 
Diedst  redeeming  on  the  tree. 
Can  in  vain  such  labour  be"! 


X 

JESUS  DECLARES  HIMSELF, 


«45  10 


"The  woman  answered  and  said  unto  Him,  I  haye  no  husband. 
Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Thou  saidst  well,  I  have  no  husband  :  for  thou 
hast  had  five  husbands  ;  and  he  whom  thou  now  hast  is  not  thy  husband : 
this  hast  thou  said  truly.  The  woman  saith  unto  Him,  Sir,  I  perceive 
that  Thou  art  a  prophet.  Our  fathers  worshipped  in  this  mountain  ;  and 
ye  say,  that  in  Jerusalem  is  the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship. 
Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  believe  Me,  the  hour  cometh,  when  neither 
in  this  mountain,  nor  in  Jerusalem,  shall  ye  worship  the  Father.  Ye 
worship  that  which  ye  know  not :  we  worship  that  which  we  know : 
for  salvation  is  from  the  Jews.  But  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when 
the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth  :  for 
such  doth  the  Father  seek  to  be  His  worshippers.  God  is  a  Spirit :  and 
they  that  worship  Him  must  worship  in  spirit  and  truth.  The  woman 
saith  unto  Him,  I  know  that  Messiah  cometh  (which  is  called  Christ) : 
when  He  is  come.  He  will  declare  imto  us  all  things.  Jesus  saith  unto 
her,  I  that  speak  unto  thee  am  He  "—John  iv.  17-26. 


JESUS  DECLARES  HIMSELF. 

IN  this  conversation  at  Jacob's  well  the  woman  for 
some  time,  quite  naturally,  misses  the  point  of  what 
Jesus  says.  It  does  not  occur  to  her  that  by  "  water  " 
He  means  anything  else  than  what  she  could  carry  in 
her  pitcher.  Even  when  He  speaks  of  causing  a  well 
to  spring  up  "within  herself,"  she  still  thinks  merely 
of  the  domestic  convenience  of  some  such  arrangement, 
and  begs  Him  to  give  what  would  save  her  the  endless 
trouble  of  coming  to  draw  water  out  of  Jacob's  well. 
This  simplicity  has  its  good  side,  as  also  has  her 
obvious  confidence  in  His  words.  Jesus  sees  in  this 
child-like  simplicity  and  directness  a  much  more  hopeful 
soil  for  His  message  than  He  had  found  even  in  a 
thoughtful  man  of  education  like  Nicodemus.  He  seeks, 
therefore,  to  prepare  the  soil  further  by  quickening 
within  her  a  sense  of  spiritual  want  This  may  best 
be  effected  by  backing  her  into  her  actual  life.  There- 
fore He  says,  "  Go,  call  thy  husband,  and  come  hither." 
And  in  this  simple  way  He  leads  the  woman  at  once 
to  recognise  His  prophetic  insight  into  her  condition, 
and  to  bring  His  offers  into  connection  with  her  character 
and  her  life.  And  there  was  that  in  her  manner  of 
owning  Him  as  a  prophet,  a  frankness  and  a  simplicity 
in  uttering  her  mind  and  listening  to  His  explanations, 

147 


148  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

that  prompted  Him  explicitly  to  say,  "  I  that  speak 
unto  thee  am  the  Messiah." 

To  this  unfortunate  and  ill-living  alien  woman,  then, 
Jesus  declared  Himself  as  He  had  not  declared  Him- 
self to  the  well-to-do,  respectable  Jewish  rabbis.     The 
reason  of  this  difference  in  our  Lord's  treatment  of 
individuals  arises  from  the  different  dispositions  they 
manifest      Acknowledgment   of  His  power   to  work 
miracles  may  seem  at  first  sight  as  good  a  certificate 
for  Christian  discipleship  as  acknowledgment  of  His 
prophetic  power.     But  it  is  not  so;  because  such  an 
acknowledgment  of  His  prophetic  insight  as  this  woman 
made  is  an  acknowledgment  of  His  power  over  the 
human  heart  and  life.     He  who  is  thus  felt  to  penetrate 
to  the  hidden  acts,  and  to  lay  His  hand  upon  the  deepest 
secrets  of  the  heart,  is  recognised  as  in  a  personal 
connection  with  the  individual ;  and  this  is  the  founda- 
tion on  which  Christ  can  build,  this  is  the  beginning 
of  that  vital  connection  with  Him  which  gives  newness 
of  life.     Those  who  are  merely  solving  a  problem  when 
they  are  considering  the  claims  of  Christ,  are  not  likely 
to  have  any  personal  revelation  made  to  them.     But  to 
every  one,  who,  like  this  woman,  shows  some  desire 
to  receive  His  gifts,  and  who  is  not  above  owning  that 
life  is  a  very  poor  affair  without  some  such  thing  as 
He  offers ;  to  every  one  who  is  conscious  of  sin,  and 
who  looks  to  Him  as  able  to  deliver  from  all  its  foul 
entanglement,    He   does   make    Himself  known.      To 
such  persons  He  will  disclose  Himself  when  He  sees 
that   they  are  ripe  for  the  disclosure.     To  such   the 
moment  of  moments  will  come,  when  to  them  He  will 
say :  "  I  that  speak  unto  thee  am  He." 

This  distinction  between  the  chemist  who  analyses 
the  living  water,  and  the  thirsting  soul  that  uses  it, 


hr.  17-26.]  JESUS  DECLARES  HIMSELF.  149 

runs  very  deep,  and  may  be  commended  to  the  con- 
sideration of  any  who  are  apt  to  be  carried  away  by 
the  current  of  unbelief  that  characterizes  much  of  our 
literature,  I  think  it  may  be  said  that  in  writers  dis- 
tinguished by  a  lack  of  Christian  belief  there  will 
commonly  be  found  an  absence  of  what  is  popularly 
and  fitly  called  "  an  awakened  conscience."  It  will  be 
found  that  they  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  look  at  Christ 
from  the  point  of  view  of  this  woman,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  a  shattered  and  wretched  life,  and  a  con- 
science that  day  by  day  is  saying,  It  is  I  myself  who 
have  broken  my  life,  and  doing  so  I  have  become  a 
transgressor,  and  need  pardon,  guidance,  strength. 
Acute  thought,  an  admirable  faculty  of  explaining  and 
enforcing  what  is  thought,  we  find  in  abundance ;  but 
we  certainly  do  not  find  a  spirit  humbled  by  a  sense  of 
sin  and  a  conscience  alive  to  the  deepest  obligations. 
So  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  the  writings  of  the 
most  conspicuous  unbelievers,  they  do  not  possess  the 
first  requisite  for  discerning  a  Saviour — namely,  a  sense 
of  need.  They  lack  the  prime  preparation  for  speaking 
on  such  a  subject ;  they  have  never  dealt  fairly  with 
their  own  sin.  We  do  not  consult  a  deaf  man  if  we 
wish  to  ascertain  whether  the  noise  we  have  heard  is 
thunder  or  the  rumbling  of  a  cart ;  neither  can  we 
expect  that  those  will  be  the  best  teachers  regarding 
God  in  whom  the  faculty  by  which  we  chiefly  discern 
God — viz.,  the  conscience — has  been  less  exercised  than 
any  other.  It  is  through  the  conscience  God  makes 
Himself  most  distinctly  felt ;  it  is  in  connection  with 
the  moral  law  we  come  most  clearly  in  contact  with 
Him ;  and  convictions  of  God's  Being  and  connection 
with  us  root  themselves  in  the  soul  that  a  sense  of  sin 
has  ploughed. 


ISO  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN 

I  am  far  from  saying  that  in  deciding  upon  the  claims 
of  Christ  the  understanding  is  to  have  no  voice.  The 
understanding  must  have  a  voice  here  as  elsewhere. 
But  it  is  a  strong  presumption  in  Christ's  favour  that 
He  offers  precisely  what  sinners  need ;  and  it  is  decisive 
in  His  favour  when  we  find  that  He  actually  gives 
what  sinners  need.  If  it  is  practically  found  that  He 
is  the  force  that  lifts  thousands  and  thousands  of  human 
beings  out  of  sin ;  if  He  has,  in  point  of  fact,  brought 
light  to  those  in  deep  darkness,  comfort  and  courage 
to  the  desolate  and  heavily  burdened,  consecration  and 
purity  to  the  outcast  and  the  corrupt,  then,  plainly,  He 
is  what  He  claims  to  be,  and  we  owe  Him  our  faith. 

If  God  is  to  reveal  Himself  at  all,  the  revelation  must 
be  made  not  solely  or  chiefly  to  the  understanding, 
but  to  that  part  of  us  which  determines  character,  and 
is  capable  of  appreciating  character.  The  revelation 
must  be  moral  not  intellectual.  As  our  Lord's  ministry 
proceeded  He  recognised  that  it  was  always  the  simple 
who  most  readily  accepted  and  trusted  Him ;  and  He 
recognised  that  this  was  a  thing  to  be  thankful  for :  "  I 
thank  Thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  that 
Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent, 
and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes."  And  every  one 
who  thinks  of  it  sees  that  it  must  be  so — that  a  man's 
destiny  must  be  decided  not  by  his  understanding,  but 
by  his  character  and  leanings;  not  by  his  ability  or 
disability  to  believe  this  or  that,  or  to  prove  that  his 
belief  is  well  grounded,  but  by  his  aspirations,  by  the 
real  bent  of  his  heart.  We  should  feel  that  there  was 
something  very  far  wrong  if  our  faith  depended  upon 
proofs  that  not  every  one  could  master,  and  if  thus  the 
clever  man  had  an  advantage  over  the  humble  and 
contrite.     "The  evidence  must  be  such  that  spiritual 


iv.  17.26.]  JESUS  DECLARES  HIMSELF.  151 

character  shall  be  an  element  in  the  acceptance  of  it.' 
And  such  we  find  it  to  be.  The  reality  and  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  revelation  ot  God  in  Christ  are  more 
readilj  apprehended  by  the  spiritually  than  by  the 
Intellectually  gifted.  Persons  who  are  either  by  nature 
humble  and  docile,  or  whom  life  has  taught  to  be 
so,  persons  who  feel  their  need  of  God,  and  deeply 
long  for  an  eternal  state  of  peace  and  purity,  these  are 
the  persons  to  whom  God  finds  it  possible  to  make 
Himself  known.  And  if  it  be  thought  that  this  circum- 
stance, that  simple  and  docile  spirits  are  convinced 
while  hard-headed  men  are  unconvinced,  throws  some 
suspicion  on  the  reality  of  the  revelation,  if  it  be 
thought  that  the  God  and  the  eternity  they  believe  in 
are  but  fancies  of  their  own,  it  may  fairly  be  replied, 
that  there  is  no  more  reason  for  such  a  thought  than 
for  supposing  that  the  rapture  of  a  trained  musician  is 
fanciful  and  self-created,  and  not  excited  by  any  corre- 
sponding reality,  because  it  is  not  shared  by  those 
whose  taste  for  music  is  unawakened. 

Convinced  that  Jesus  was  a  prophet,  the  woman  pro- 
poses to  Him  the  standing  subject  of  debate  between 
Jews  and  Samaritans.  Her  statement  of  it  is  abrupt, 
and  offers  some  appearance  of  being  intended  to  turn 
the  conversation  away  from  herself;  but  this  does  not 
harmonise  with  her  simple  and  direct  character,  and  it 
is  quite  possible  that  in  the  midst  of  her  confused  and 
disappointed  life  she  had  sometimes  wondered  whether 
all  her  misery  did  not  arise  from  her  being  a  Samaritan. 
She  knew  what  the  Jews  said  of  the  Samaritan  worship. 
She  knew  that  they  mocked  at  the  Temple  which  stood 
on  the  hill  over  against  Jacob's  well ;  and  when  she 
found  how  very  little  her  worship  had  helpea  her,  she 
may  have  begun  to  suspect  that  there  was  truiii  in  the 


152  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

Jewish  allegations.  Evidently  the  aspect  of  the  Messiah, 
which  had  chiefly  struck  her,  was  His  power  to  lead 
men  into  all  truth,  to  teach  them  all  things.  Persons 
in  her  station,  and  quite  as  much  overborne  by  sin  as 
she,  often  retain  their  hold  upon  religious  teaching ;  and 
in  the  midst  of  much  that  is  superstitious  they  have  a 
spark  of  true  hope  and  longing  for  redemption.  Jesus 
shows  by  the  gravity  and  importance  of  His  answer 
that  He  considered  the  woman  sincere  in  the  statement 
of  her  difficulty,  and  anxious  to  know  where  God  might 
really  be  found.  Perplexed  and  bewildered  by  her 
earthly  experience,  as  so  many  of  us  are,  she  suddenly 
awakes  to  the  consciousness  that  here,  before  her,  and 
conversing  with  her,  is  a  prophet ;  and  at  once  she 
utters  to  Him  what  had  been  burning  in  her  heart, 
"  Where,  where  is  God  to  be  found  ?  " 

And  so  in  reply  to  the  inquiry  of  one  sincere  woman 
Jesus  makes  that  great  announcement  which  has  ever 
since  stood  as  the  manifesto  of  spiritual  worship.  Not 
in  any  particular  and  isolated  place,  He  tells  the  woman, 
is  God  to  be  found,  not  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  nor 
in  the  rival  structure  on  Gerizim,  but  in  spirit.  "  God 
is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship 
in  spirit  and  in  truth."  As  our  Lord  intimates,  this 
was  a  new  kind  of  worship,  essentially  different  from 
that  to  which  Jews  and  Samaritans,  and  indeed  all 
men,  had  hitherto  been  accustomed. 

The  magnitude  of  the  contents  of  such  sayings  can 
as  little  be  comprehended  as  their  significance  can  be 
exhausted.  We  have  first  of  all  the  central  affirma- 
tion :  "  God  is  a  Spirit."  To  fill  out  this  definition 
with  intelligible  ideas  is  difficult.  It  implies  that  He  is 
a  Personal  Being,  that  He  is  self-conscious,  possessed 
of  intelligence   and   will;  but  although  Personal  His 


iv.  17-26.]  JESUS  DECLARES  HIMSELF.  153 

Personality  transcends  our  conception.  So  far  as 
regards  the  immediate  application  of  the  definition  by 
our  Lord  at  this  time,  it  suffices  to  note  its  primary 
meaning  that  God  has  not  a  body,  and  consequently 
is  subject  to  none  of  the  limitations  and  conditions  to 
which  the  possession  of  a  body  subjects  human  persons. 
He  needs  no  local  dwelling-place,  no  temple,  no 
material  offerings.  In  local  worship  there  was  an 
advantage  while  the  world  was  young,  and  men  could 
best  be  taught  by  symbols.  A  house  in  their  midst,  of 
which  they  might  say,  "  God  is  there,"  was  undoubtedly 
an  aid  to  faith.  But  it  had  its  disadvantages.  For  the 
more  a  worshipper  fixed  his  mind  on  the  one  local 
habitation,  the  less  could  he  carry  with  him  the  con- 
sciousness of  God's  presence  in  all  places. 

Very  slowly  do  we  leai  a  that  God  is  a  Spirit.  We 
think  nothing  is  more  surely  believed  among  us.  Alas  ! 
make  almost  any  application  of  this  radical  truth,  and 
we  find  how  little  it  is  believed.  Take,  for  example, 
the  appearances  and  voices  by  which  intimations  were 
made  to  godly  men  in  Old  Testament  times..  Why  are 
many  people  reluctant  to  allow  that  these  manifesta- 
tions were  inward  and  to  conscience,  that  they  came  as 
convictions  wrought  by  an  unseen  power,  rather  than 
as  outward  appearances  or  audible  voices  ?  Is  it  not 
because  the  truth  that  God  is  a  Spirit  is  not  adequately 
apprehended  ?  Or  why  again  do  we  so  crave  for  signs, 
for  clearer  demonstrations  of  God's  being  and  of  His 
presence  ?  Ought  we  not  to  be  satisfied  if  He  responds 
to  spiritual  aspirations,  and  if  we  find  that  our  craving 
for  holiness  is  met  and  gratified  ? 

The  inference  drawn  by  our  Lord  from  the  truth  that 
God  is  a  Spirit  is  one  which  needs  still  to  be  pressed. 
God  seeks  to  be  M^orshipped  not  by  outward  forms  or 


154  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

elaborate  ritual  but  in  spirit.  Ordinary  teachers  would 
have  put  in  a  saving  clause  to  preserve  some  forms  of 
worship ;  Christ  puts  in  none.  Let  men  worship  God 
in  spirit,  and  let  forms  take  their  chance.  To  worship 
God  in  spirit  is  to  yield  the  unseen  but  motive  powers 
within  us  to  the  unseen  but  Almighty  influences  which 
we  recognise  as  Divine.  It  is  to  prostrate  our  spirit 
before  the  Divine  Spirit.  It  is  in  our  deepest  being, 
in  will  and  intention,  to  offer  ourselves  up  to  Him  in 
whom  goodness  is  personified.  When  a  man  is  doing 
that,  what  does  it  matter  what  he  says  to  God,  or  with 
what  forms  of  worship  he  comes  before  Him  ?  That 
alone  is  acceptable  worship  which  consists  in  the  devout 
approach  of  the  human  spirit  to  the  Divine ;  and  that 
is  accomplished  often  as  effectually  in  our  business 
intercourse  with  men  when  tempted  to  injustice,  or  in 
our  homes  when  tempted  to  anger  or  to  laxity,  as 
when  we  are  in  the  house  of  God.  Worship  in  the 
spirit  needs  no  words,  no  appointed  place,  but  only  a 
human  soul  that  bows  inwardly  before  the  goodness 
of  God,  and  submits  itself  cordially  to  His  sovereign 
and  loving  will. 

This  certainly  is  a  strong  argument  for  simplicity 
of  worship.  V/hy,  it  may  indeed  be  said,  why  have 
any  outward  worship  at  all  ?  Why  have  churches  and 
why  have  Divine  service  ?  Well,  it  would  have  been 
better  for  the  Church  if  there  had  been  far  less  outward 
worship  than  there  commonly  has  been.  For  by  its 
elaborate  services  the  Church  has  far  too  much  identified 
religion  with  that  worship  which  can  only  be  rendered 
in  church.  No  one  can  be  surprised  that  in  utter 
disgust  at  the  disproportion  between  outward  and 
spiritual  worship,  between  the  gorgeous  and  fussy 
services  that  profess  so  much,  and  the  slender  and  rare 


iv.  17-26.J  JESUS  DECLARES  HIMSELF.  155 

devotion  of  the  soul  to  God,  discerning  men  should 
have  turned  their  back  on  the  whole  business,  and 
declined  to  be  partakers  in  so  huge  and  profane  a  farce. 
Milton  in  his  later  years  attended  no  Church  and 
belonged  to  no  communion.  This  certainly  is  to  run 
to  the  opposite  extreme.  No  doubt  that  worship  may 
be  real  and  acceptable  which  is  oflfered  in  the  silence 
and  solitude  of  a  man's  spirit ;  but  we  naturally  utter 
what  we  feel,  and  by  the  utterance  strengthen  the 
feelings  that  are  good,  and  rid  ourselves  of  the  bitter- 
ness and  strain  of  those  that  are  painful  and  full  of 
sorrow.  Besides,  the  Church  is,  before  all  else,  a 
society.  Our  religion  is  meant  to  bring  us  together, 
and  though  it  does  so  more  effectually  by  inspiring  us 
with  kindliness  and  helpfulness  in  life  than  by  a  formal 
meeting  together  for  no  purposes  of  active  charity,  yet 
the  one  fellowship  aids  the  other,  as  many  of  us  well 
know. 

While,  then,  we  accept  Christ's  statement  in  its 
fullest  significance,  and  maintain  that  our  "reasonable 
service  "  is  the  offering  of  ourselves  as  living  sacrifices, 
that  spiritual  worship  is  offered  not  in  church  only  or 
mainly,  but  in  doing  God's  will  with  a  hearty  goodwill, 
we  all  the  rather  see  how  needful  it  is  to  utter 
ourselves  to  God  as  we  do  in  our  social  worship;  for 
as  the  wife  would  need  some  patience  who  was  cared 
for  indeed  by  her  husband  in  the  supply  of  her  common 
wants,  but  had  never  a  word  of  affection  spoken  to  her, 
so  our  relations  to  God  are  not  satisfactory  unless  we 
utter  to  Him  our  devotion  as  well  as  show  it  in  our 
Ufe.  He  was  one  of  the  wisest  of  English  writers  who 
said,  "  I  always  thought  fit  to  keep  up  some  mechanical 
forms  of  good  breeding  (in  my  family),  without  which 
fiseedom  ever  destroys  friendship."     Precisely  so,  he 


156  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

who  omits  the  outward  and  verbal  expression  of  regard 
to  God,  will  soon  lose  that  regard  itself. 

But  if  the  words  of  Christ  were  not  intended  to  put 
an  end  to  outward  worship  altogether,  they  do,  as  I 
have  said,  form  a  strong  argument  for  simplicity  of 
worship.     No  forms  whatever  are  needed  that  our  spirit 
may  come  into  communion  with  God.    Let  us  begin  with 
this.     As  true  and  perfect  worship  may  be  rendered 
by  the  dying  man,  who  cannot  lift  an  eyelid  or  open 
his  lips,  as  by  the  most  ornate  service  that  combines 
perfect  liturgical  forms  with  the  richest  music  man  has 
ever  written.     Rich   music,  striking   combinations  of 
colour  and  of  architectural  forms,  are  nothing  to  God 
so  far  as  worship  goes,  except  in  so  far  as  they  bring 
the  human  spirit  into  fellowship  with  Him.     Persons 
are  differently  constituted,  and  what  is  natural  to  one 
will  be  formal  and  artificial  to  another.     Some  wor- 
shippers will  always  feel  that  they  get  closer  to  God 
in  private,  in  their  own  silent  room,  and  with  nothing 
but  their  own  circumstances  and  wants  to  stimulate 
them ;  they  feel  that  a  service  carefully  arranged  and 
abounding  in  musical  effects  does  indeed  move  them, 
but  does  not  make  it  easier  for  them  to  address  them- 
selves to  God.     Others,  again,  feel  differently ;  they  feel 
that   they  can  best  worship    God  in  spirit  when  the 
forms  of  worship  are  expressive  and  significant.     But 
in   two  points  all   will   agree:  first,  that   in  external 
worship,  while  we  strive  to  keep  it  simple  we  should 
also  strive  to  make  it  good — the  best  possible  of  its 
kind.     If  we  are  to  sing  God's  praise  at  all,  then  let 
the  singing  be  the   best   possible,   the   best   music   a 
congregation    can   join    in,    and    executed   with    the 
utmost  skill    that   care  can    develop.      Music  which 
cannot  be  sung  save  by  persons  of  exceptional  musical 


It.  17-26.]  JESUS  DECLARES  HIMSELF.  157 

talent  is  unsuitable  for  congregational  worship;  but 
music  which  requires  no  consideration,  and  admits  of 
no  excellence,  is  hardly  suitable  for  the  worship  of  God. 
I  do  not  know  what  idea  of  God's  worship  is  held  by 
persons  who  never  put  themselves  to  the  least  trouble 
to  improve  it  so  far  as  they  are  concerned. 

The  other  point  in  which  all  will  agree,  is  that  where 
the  spirit  is  not  engaged  there  is  no  worship  at  all. 
This  goes  without  saying.  And  yet,  subtract  from  oui 
worship  all  that  is  merely  formal,  and  how  much  do 
you  leave?  Worse  still,  there  are  those  who  do  not 
even  strive  after  the  fit  and  decorous  form,  who  do 
not  bow  their  heads  in  prayer,  who  are  not  ashamed 
to  be  seen  looking  about  them  during  the  most  solemn 
acts  of  worship,  who  show  that  they  are  indevout, 
thoughtless,  profane. 

The  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  not 
only  "in  spirit,"  but  also  "in  truth."  The  word 
"  truth  "  here  probably  covers  two  ideas — the  ideas  of 
reality  and  of  accuracy.  It  is  opposed  to  symbolic 
worship  and  to  ignorant  worship.  It  does  not  mean 
that  worship  was  now  to  be  sincere,  for  that  it  had 
already  been  both  among  Samaritans  and  Jews.  But 
among  the  Jews  the  worship  of  God  had  been  sym- 
bolical, and  among  the  Samaritans  it  had  been  ignorant. 

The  Jewish  worship  had  been  symbolical,  every 
person  and  thing,  every  colour,  gesture,  movement, 
having  a  meaning  for  the  initiated.  The  time  for  this, 
says  our  Lord,  is  past.  We  are  to  worship  really. 
They  need  no  longer  take  an  animal  to  the  temple  to 
symbolise  that  they  gave  themselves  to  God ;  they  were 
to  spend  their  whole  care  on  the  real  thing,  on  giving 
themselves  to  God ;  they  were  not  to  set  candles  about 
their  altars  to  show  that  l)q:ht  was  come  into  the  world, 


ISI  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

they  were  themselves  to  shine  as  lights  lit  by  Christ ; 
they  were  not  to  swing  censers  to  symbolise  the  sweet- 
smelling  prayers  of  the  saints,  they  were  to  offer  prayers 
from  humble  hearts.  In  effect  Christ  said,  You  are 
grown  up  now,  and  can  understand  the  realities ;  put 
away  then  these  childish  things.  And  those  who  con- 
tinue to  worship  with  various  robes,  and  prescribed 
gesticulations  and  movements,  and  pictures,  and  altars, 
and  everything  to  impress  the  senses,  write  themselves 
down  children  among  grown-up  people. 

Truth  is  opposed  also  to  error  or  misconception 
about  the  object  of  worship.  Christ,  by  His  presence, 
enables  men  to  worship  the  Father  in  truth.  He  gives 
them  the  true  idea  of  God.  He  makes  God  real,  giving 
an  actuality  to  our  thought  of  God  which  we  could  not 
otherwise  arrive  at;  and  He  shows  us  God  as  He  truly 
is,  connected  with  ourselves  by  love;  holy,  merciful, 
just 


XI. 

THE  SECOND   SIGN"  IN  GALILEE, 


*S9 


**  Itt  the  mean  while  the  disciples  prayed  Him,  saying,  Rabbi,  eat 
But  He  said  unto  them,  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not.  The 
disciples  therefore  said  one  to  another.  Hath  any  man  brought  Him 
aught  to  eat?  Jesus  saith  unto  them.  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him 
that  lent  Me,  and  to  accomplish  His  work.  Say  not  ye,  There  are  yet 
four  months,  and  then  cometh  the  harvest  ?  behold,  I  say  unto  you,  Lift 
up  yonr  eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields,  that  they  are  white  already  unto 
harvest.  He  that  reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and  gathereth  fruit  unto  life 
eternal ;  that  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth  may  rejoice  together. 
For  herein  is  the  saying  true,  One  soweth  and  another  reapeth.  I  sent 
you  to  reap  that  whereon  ye  have  not  laboured  :  others  have  laboured, 
and  ye  are  entered  into  their  labour.  And  from  that  city  many  of  the 
Samaritans  believed  on  Him  because  of  the  word  of  the  woman,  who 
testified,  He  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did.  So  when  the  Samaritans 
came  unto  Him,  they  besought  Him  to  abide  with  them  :  and  He  abode 
there  two  days.  And  many  more  believed  because  of  His  word ;  and 
they  said  to  the  woman,  Now  we  believe,  not  because  of  thy  speaking : 
for  we  have  heard  for  ourselves,  and  know  that  this  is  indeed  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  And  after  the  two  days  He  went  forth  from  thence  into 
Galilee.  For  Jesus  Himself  testified,  that  a  prophet  hath  no  honour  in 
his  own  country.  So  when  He  came  into  Galilee,  the  Galilasans  received 
Him,  having  seen  all  the  things  that  He  did  in  Jerusalem  at  the  feast : 
for  they  also  went  unto  the  feast.  He  came  therefore  again  unto  Cana 
of  Galilee,  where  He  made  the  water  wine.  And  there  was  a  certain 
nobleman,  whose  son  was  sick  at  Capernaum.  When  he  heard  that 
Jesus  was  come  out  of  Judaea  into  Galilee,  he  went  unto  Him,  and 
besought  Him  that  He  would  come  down,  and  heal  his  son  ;  for  he  was 
at  the  point  of  death.  Jesus  therefore  said  unto  him.  Except  ye  see 
signs  and  wonders,  ye  will  in  no  wise  believe.  The  nobleman  saitt 
unto  Him,  Sir,  come  down  ere  my  child  die.  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Go 
thy  way ;  thy  son  liveth.  The  man  believed  the  word  that  Jesus  spake 
unto  him,  and  he  went  his  way.  And  as  he  was  now  going  down,  his 
servants  met  him,  saying,  that  his  son  lived.  So  he  inquired  of  them 
the  hour  when  he  began  to  amend.  They  said  therefore  unto  him. 
Yesterday  at  the  seventh  hour  the  fever  left  him.  So  the  father  knew 
that  it  was  at  that  hour  in  which  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thy  son  liveth : 
and  himself  believed,  and  his  whole  house.  This  is  again  the  second 
sign  that  Jesus  did,  having  come  out  of  Judaea  into  Galilee  " — ^JOHN  It, 
3I-54. 


i«o 


XI. 

THE  SECOND  SIGN  IN  GALILEE. 

THE  disciples,  when  they  went  forward  to  buy 
provisions  in  Sychar,  left  Jesus  sitting  on  the 
jvell  wearied  and  faint.  On  their  return  they  find  Him, 
to  their  surprise,  elate  and  full  of  renewed  energy. 
Such  transformations  one  has  often  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing.  Success  is  a  better  stimulant  than  wine.  Our 
Lord  had  found  one  who  believed  Him  and  valued  His 
message ;  and  this  brought  fresh  life  to  His  frame. 
The  disciples  go  on  eating,  and  are  too  busy  with  their 
meal  to  lift  their  eyes  ;  but  as  they  eat  they  talk  over 
the  prospects  of  the  harvest  in  the  rich  fields  through 
which  they  have  just  walked.  Meanwhile  our  Lord 
sees  the  men  of  Sychar  coming  out  of  the  town  in 
obedience  to  the  woman's  request,  and  calls  His 
disciples*  attention  to  a  harvest  more  worthy  of  their 
attention  than  the  one  they  were  discussing :  "  Were 
you  not  saying  that  we  must  wait  four  months  till 
harvest  comes  again  ^  and  cheapens  the  bread  for  which 
you  have  paid  so  dear  in  Sychar  ?  But  lift  up  your 
eyes  and  mark  the  eager  crowd  of  Samaritans,  and  say  if 
you  may  not  expect  to  reap  much  this  very  day.     Are 

*  The  words  (ver.  35)  have  quite  the  ring  of  a  proverb — a  proverb 
peculiar  to  seed-time  and  for  the  encouragement  of  the  sower.  If 
littered  on  this  occasion  id  seed-time,  this  gives  December  as  the  date. 


161 


II 


i6t  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

not  the  fields  white  already  to  harvest  ?  Here  in 
Samaria,  which  you  only  wished  quickly  to  pass 
through,  where  you  were  looking  for  no  additions  to 
the  Kingdom,  and  where  you  might  suppose  sowing 
and  long  waiting  were  needed,  you  see  the  ripened 
grain.  Others  have  laboured,  the  Baptist  and  this 
woman  and  I,  and  ye  have  entered  into  their  labours." 

All  labourers  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  need  a  similar 
reminder.  We  can  never  certainly  say  in  what  state 
of  preparedness  the  human  heart  is ;  we  do  not  know 
what  providences  of  God  have  ploughed  it,  nor  what 
thoughts  are  sown  in  it,  nor  what  strivings  are  being 
even  now  made  by  the  springing  life  that  seeks  the 
light.  We  generally  give  men  credit,  not  perhaps  for 
less  thought  than  they  have,  for  that  is  scarcely 
possible,  but  for  less  capacity  of  thought.  The  disciples 
were  good  men,  but  they  went  into  Sychar  judging  the 
Samaritans  good  enough  to  trade  with,  but  never 
dreaming  of  telling  them  the  Messiah  was  outside  their 
town.  They  must  have  been  ashamed  to  find  how 
much  more  capable  an  apostle  the  woman  was  than 
they.  I  think  they  would  not  wonder  another  time 
that  their  Lord  should  condescend  to  talk  with  a 
woman.  The  simple,  unthinking,  untroubled  direct- 
ness of  a  woman  will  often  have  a  matter  finished 
while  a  man  is  meditating  some  ponderous  and  inge- 
nious contrivance  for  bringing  it  to  pass.  Let  us  not 
fall  into  the  mistake  of  the  disciples,  and  judge  men  good 
enough  to  buy  and  sell  with,  but  quite  alien  to  the 
matters  of  the  Kingdom. 

"  There  is  a  day  in  spring 
When  under  all  the  earth  the  secret  germs 
Begin  to  stir  and  glow  before  they  bud. 
The  wealth  and  festal  pomps  of  inidsummei 


T.3I-S4-]        THE  SECOND  SIGN  IN  GAULEE,  163 

Lie  in  the  heart  of  that  inglorious  hour 
Which  no  man  names  with  blessing,  though  its  work 
Is  bless 'd  by  all  the  world.     Such  days  there  are 
In  the  slow  story  of  the  growth  of  souls." 

Such  days  may  be  passing  in  those  around  us,  though 
all  unknown  to  us.  We  can  never  tell  how  many 
months  there  are  till  harvest.  We  never  know  who 
or  what  has  been  labouring  before  we  appear  on  the 
scene. 

The  woman's  testimony  was  enough  to  excite  curio- 
sity. The  men  on  her  word  came  out  to  judge  for  them- 
selves. What  they  saw  and  heard  completed  their 
conviction ;  "  And  they  said  to  the  woman,  Now  we 
believe,  not  because  of  thy  speaking :  for  we  have 
heard  for  ourselves,  and  know  that  this  is  indeed  the 
Saviour  of  the  world."  This  growth  of  faith  is  one  of 
the  subjects  John  delights  to  exhibit.  He  is  fond  of 
showing  how  a  weak  and  ill-founded  faith  may  grow 
into  a  faith  that  is  well  rooted  and  strong. 

This  Samaritan  episode  is  significant  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  Gospel,  not  only  because  it  shows  how  readily 
unsophisticated  minds  perceive  the  inalienable  majesty 
of  Christ,  but  also  because  it  forms  so  striking  a  foil  to 
the  reception  our  Lord  had  met  with  in  Jerusalem,  and 
was  shortly  to  meet  with  in  Galilee.  In  Jerusalem  He 
did  many  miracles;  but  the  people  were  too  political 
and  too  prejudiced  to  own  Him  as  a  spiritual  Lord.  In 
Galilee  He  was  known,  and  might  have  expected  to  be 
understood  ;  but  there  the  people  longed  only  for  physi- 
cal blessings  and  the  excitement  of  miracles.  Here  in 
Samaria,  on  the  contrary,  He  did  no  miracles,  and  had 
no  forerunner  to  herald  His  approach.  He  was  found 
a  weary  wayfarer,  sitting  by  the  roadside,  begging  for 
refreshment.    Yet,  through  this  appearance  of  weakness, 


i64  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

and  dependence,  and  lowliness,  there  shone  His  native 
kindness,  and  truth,  and  kingliness,  to  such  a  degree, 
that  the  Samaritans,  although  naturally  suspicious  of 
Him  as  a  Jew,  believed  in  Him,  delighted  in  Him 
and  proclaimed  Him  "  Saviour  of  the  world." 

After  two  days  of  happy  intercourse  with  the 
Samaritans  Jesus  continues  His  journey  to  Galilee. 
The  proverbial  expression  which  our  Lord  used  regard- 
ing His  relation  to  Galilee — that  a  prophet  has  no 
honour  in  his  own  country — is  one  we  have  frequent 
opportunity  of  verifying.  The  man  that  has  grown  up 
among  us,  whom  we  have  seen  struggling  up  through 
the  ignorance,  and  weakness,  and  folly  of  boyhood, 
whom  we  have  had  to  help  and  to  protect,  can  scarcely 
receive  the  same  respect  as  one  who  presents  himself 
a  mature  man,  with  already  developed  faculties,  no 
longer  a  learner,  but  prepared  to  teach.  Montaigne 
complained  that  in  his  own  country  he  had  to  purchase 
publishers,  whereas  elsewhere  publishers  were  anxious 
to  purchase  him.  "  The  farther  off  I  am  read  from  my 
own  home,"  he  says,  **  the  better  I  am  esteemed."  The 
men  of  Anathoth  sought  Jeremiah's  life  when  he  began 
to  prophesy  among  them. 

It  is  not  the  truth  of  the  proverb  that  presents  any 
difficulty,  but  its  application  to  the  present  case.  For 
the  fact  that  a  prophet  has  no  honour  in  his  own 
country  would  seem  to  be  a  reason  for  His  declining 
to  go  to  Galilee,  whereas  it  is  here  introduced  as  His 
reason  for  going  there.  The  explanation  is  found  in 
the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  where  we  are  told  that  it 
was  in  search  of  retirement  He  was  now  leaving  the 
popularity  and  publicity  of  Judaea,  and  repairing  to  His 
own  country. 

But,  as  frequently  on  other  occasions,  He  now  found 


w.3«-S4]        THE  SECOND  SIGN  IN  GAULEE.  165 

that  He  could  not  be  hid.  His  countrymen,  who  had 
thought  so  little  of  Him  previously,  had  heard  of  His 
Judsean  fame,  and  echoed  the  recognition  and  applause 
of  the  south.  They  had  not  discovered  the  greatness 
of  this  Galilean,  although  He  had  lived  among  them  for 
thirty  years ;  but  no  sooner  do  they  hear  that  He  has 
created  a  sensation  in  Jerusalem  than  they  begin  to  be 
proud  of  Him.  Every  one  has  seen  the  same  thing  a 
hundred  times.  A  lad  who  has  been  despised  as  almost 
half-witted  in  his  native  place  goes  up  to  London  and 
makes  a  name  for  himself  as  poet,  artist,  or  inventor, 
and  when  he  returns  to  his  village  everybody  claims 
him  as  cousin.  Such  a  change  of  sentiment  was  not 
likely  to  escape  the  observation  of  Jesus  nor  to  deceive 
Him.  It  is  with  an  accent  of  disappointment,  not 
unmingled  with  reproach,  that  He  utters  His  first 
recorded  words  in  Galilee :  "  Except  ye  see  signs  and 
wonders,  ye  will  in  no  wise  believe." 

This  sets  us  in  the  point  of  view  from  which  we  can 
clearly  see  the  significance  of  the  one  incident  which 
John  selects  from  all  that  happened  during  our  Lord's 
stay  in  Galilee  at  this  time.  John  wishes  to  illustrate 
the  difference  between  the  Galilean  and  the  Samaritan 
faith,  and  the  possibility  of  the  one  growing  into  the 
other ;  and  he  does  so  by  introducing  the  brief  narrative 
of  the  courtier  from  Capernaum.  Accounts,  more  or 
less  accurate,  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus  in  Jerusalem  had 
found  their  way  even  into  the  household  of  Herod 
Antipas.  For  no  sooner  was  He  known  to  have 
arrived  in  Galilee  than  one  of  the  royal  household 
sought  Him  out  to  obtain  a  boon  which  no  royal  favour 
could  grant.  The  supposition  is  not  without  plausibility 
that  this  nobleman  was  Chuza,  Herod's  chamberlain, 
and  that  this  miracle,  which  had  so  powerful  an  effect 


106  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

on  the  family  in  which  it  was  wrought,  was  the  origin 
of  that  devotion  to  our  Lord  which  was  afterwards 
shown  by  Chuza's  wife. 

The  nobleman,  whoever  he  was,  came  to  Jesus  with 
an  urgent  request.  He  had  come  twenty  miles  to 
appeal  to  Jesus,  and  he  had  been  unable  to  trust  his 
petition  to  a  messenger.  But  instead  of  meeting  this 
distracted  father  with  words  of  sympathy  and  encour- 
agement, Jesus  merely  utters  a  general  .and  chilling 
observation.  Why  is  this  ?  Why  does  He  seem  to 
lament  that  this  father  should  so  urgently  plead  for 
his  son  ?  Why  does  He  seem  only  to  submit  to  the 
inevitable,  if  He  grants  the  request  at  all  ?  Might  it 
not  even  seem  as  if  He  wrought  the  miracle  of  healing 
rather  for  His  own  sake  than  for  the  boy's  or  for  the 
father's  sake,  since  He  says,  "  Except  ye  see  signs 
and  wonders,  ye  will  in  no  wise  believe " — that  is,  will 
not  believe  in  Me? 

But  these  words  did  not  express  any  reluctance  on 
the  part  of  Jesus  to  heal  the  nobleman's  son.  Possibly 
they  were  intended,  in  the  first  instance,  to  rebuke  the 
desire  of  the  father  that  Jesus  should  go  with  him 
to  Capernaum  and  pronounce  over  the  boy  words  of 
healing.  The  father  thought  the  presence  of  Christ 
was  necessary.  He  had  not  attained  to  the  faith  of  the 
centurion,  who  believed  that  an  expression  of  will  was 
enough.  Jesus,  therefore,  demands  a  stronger  faith  ; 
and  in  His  presence  that  stronger  faith  which  can  trust 
His  word  is  developed. 

The  words,  however,  were  especially  a  warning  that 
His  physical  gifts  were  not  the  greatest  He  had  to 
bestow,  and  that  a  faith  which  required  to  be  buttressed 
by  the  sight  of  miracles  was  not  the  best  kind  of  faith. 
Our  Lord  was  always  in  danger  of  being  looked  upon 


i^'St'SA]       THE  SECOND  SIGN  IN  GAULEE,  167 

as  a  mere  thaumaturge,  who  could  dispense  cures  merely 
as  a  physician  could  within  his  own  limits  order  a 
certain  treatment.  He  was  in  danger  of  being  con- 
sidered a  dispenser  of  blessings  to  persons  who  had 
no  faith  in  Him  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  It  is 
therefore  with  the  accent  of  one  who  submits  to  the 
inevitable  that  He  says,  "Except  ye  see  signs  and 
wonders,  ye  will  in  no  wise  believe." 

But  especially  did  our  Lord  wish  to  point  out  that 
the  faith  He  approves  and  delights  in  is  a  faith  which 
does  not  require  miracles  as  its  foundation.  This 
higher  faith  He  had  found  among  the  Samaritans. 
Many  of  them  believed,  as  John  is  careful  to  note, 
because  of  His  conversation.  There  was  that  in  Him- 
self and  in  His  talk  which  was  its  own  best  evidence. 
Some  men  who  introduce  themselves  to  us,  to  win  our 
countenance  to  some  enterprise,  carry  integrity  in  their 
whole  bearing ;  and  we  should  feel  it  to  be  an  imper- 
tinence to  ask  them  for  credentials.  If  they  offer 
to  prove  their  identity  and  trustworthiness  we  waive 
such  proof  aside,  and  assure  them  that  they  need  no 
certificate.  This  had  been  our  Lord's  experience  in 
Samaria.  There  no  news  of  His  miracles  had  come 
from  Jerusalem.  He  came  among  the  Samaritans  from 
nobody  knew  where.  He  came  without  introduction 
and  without  certificate,  yet  they  had  discernment  to 
see  that  they  had  never  met  His  like  before.  Every 
word  He  spoke  seemed  to  identify  Him  as  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  They  forgot  to  ask  for  miracles.  They 
felt  in  themselves  His  supernatural  power,  lifting  them 
into  God's  presence,  and  filling  them  with  light. 

The  Galilaean  faith  was  of  another  kind.  It  was 
based  on  His  miracles;  a  kind  of  faith  He  deplored, 
although  He  did  not  quite  repudiate  it.     To  be  accepted 


i68  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


not  on  His  own  account,  not  because  of  the  truth  He 
spoke,  not  because  His  greatness  was  perceived  and 
His  friendship  valued,  but  because  of  the  wonders  He 
performed — this  could  not  be  a  pleasant  experience. 
We  do  not  greatly  value  the  visits  of  a  person  who 
cannot  get  on  without  our  advice  or  assistance;  we 
value  the  friendship  of  him  who  seeks  our  company 
for  the  pleasure  he  finds  in  it.  And  although  we  must 
all  be  ceaselessly  and  infinitely  dependent  on  the  good 
offices  of  Christ,  our  faith  should  be  something  more 
than  a  counting  upon  His  ability  and  willingness  to 
discharge  these  good  offices.  A  faith  which  is  merely 
selfish,  which  recognises  that  Christ  can  save  from 
disaster  in  this  life  or  in  the  life  to  come,  and  which 
cleaves  to  Him  solely  on  that  account,  is  scarcely  the 
faith  that  Christ  approves.  There  is  a  faith  which 
responds  to  the  glory  of  Christ's  personality,  which 
rests  on  what  He  is,  which  builds  itself  on  the  truth 
He  utters,  and  recognises  that  all  spiritual  life  centres 
in  Him ;  it  is  this  faith  He  approves.  They  who  find 
in  Him  the  link  they  have  sought  with  the  spiritual 
world,  the  pledge  they  have  needed  to  certify  them  of 
an  eternal  righteousness,  they  to  whom  the  super- 
natural is  revealed  more  patently  in  Himself  than  in 
His  miracles,  are  those  whom  the  Lord  delights  in. 

But  the  lower  kind  of  faith  may  be  a  step  to  the 
higher.  The  agony  of  the  father  can  make  nothing 
of  general  principles,  but  can  only  reiterate  the  one 
petition,  "  Come  down  ere  my  child  die."  And  Jesas, 
with  His  perfect  knowledge  of  human  nature,  sees  that 
it  is  vain  trying  to  teach  a  man  in  this  absorbed  con- 
dition of  mind,  and  that  probably  the  very  best  way 
to  clarify  his  faith  and  lead  him  to  higher  and  worthier 
thoughts  is  to  grant  his  request — a  hint  not  to  be  over- 


»»-3»-54-]        THE  SECOND  SIGN  IN  GALILEE.  169 

looked  or  despised  by  those  who  seek  to  do  good,  and 
who  are,  possibly,  sometimes  a  little  prone  to  obtrude 
their  teaching  at  most  inopportune  seasons — at  seasons 
when  it  is  impossible  for  the  mind  to  admit  anything 
but  the  one  absorbing  topic.  Circumstances  are,  in 
general,  much  better  educators  of  men  than  any  verbal 
teaching;  and  that  verbal  teaching  can  only  do  harm 
which  interposes  between  the  moving  events  that  are 
occurring  and  the  person  who  is  passing  through  them. 
The  success  of  our  Lord's  method  was  proved  by  the 
result ;  which  was,  that  the  slender  faith  of  this  noble- 
man became  a  genuine  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Lord,  a 
faith  which  his  whole  household  shared. 

From  the  very  greatness  of  Christ,  and  our  conse- 
quent inability  to  bring  Him  into  comparison  with 
other  men,  we  are  apt  to  miss  some  of  the  significant 
features  of  His  conduct.  In  the  circumstances  before 
us,  for  example,  most  teachers  at  an  early  stage  in 
their  career  would  have  been  in  some  excitement,  and 
would  probably  have  shown  no  reluctance  to  accede  to 
the  nobleman's  request,  and  go  down  to  his  house,  and 
so  make  a  favourable  impression  on  Herod's  court.  It 
was  an  opportunity  of  getting  a  footing  in  high  places 
which  a  man  of  the  world  could  not  have  overlooked. 
But  Jesus  was  well  aware  that  if  the  foundations  of 
His  kingdom  were  to  be  solidly  laid,  there  must  be 
excluded  all  influence  of  a  worldly  kind,  all  the  over- 
powering constraint  which  fashion  and  great  names 
exercise  over  the  mind.  His  work,  He  saw,  would  be 
most  enduringly,  if  most  slowly,  done  in  a  more  private 
manner.  His  own  personal  influence  on  individuals 
must  first  of  all  be  the  chief  agency.  He  speaks,  there- 
fore, to  this  nobleman  without  any  regard  to  his  rank 
and  influence ;  indeed,  rather  curtly  dismisses  him  with 


I70  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

the  words,  "Go,  thy  son  lives."  The  total  absence  of 
display  is  remarkable.  He  did  not  go  to  Capernaum, 
to  stand  by  the  sickbed,  and  be  acknowledged  as  the 
healer.  He  made  no  bargain  with  the  nobleman  that 
if  his  son  recovered  he  would  let  the  cause  be  known. 
He  simply  did  the  thing,  and  said  nothing  at  all 
about  it. 

Though  it  was  only  one  in  the  afternoon  when 
the  nobleman  was  dismissed  he  did  not  go  back  to 
Capernaum  that  night — why,  we  do  not  know.  A 
thousand  things  may  have  detained  him.  He  may  have 
had  business  for  Herod  in  Cana  or  on  the  road  as  well 
as  for  himself;  the  beast  he  rode  may  have  gone  lame 
where  he  could  not  procure  another ;  at  any  rate,  it  is 
quite  uncalled  for  to  ascribe  his  delay  to  the  confidence 
he  had  in  Christ's  word,  an  instance  of  the  truth,  "  He 
that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste."  The  more  certainly 
he  believed  Christ's  word  the  more  anxious  would  he 
be  to  see  his  son.  His  servants  knew  how  anxious  he 
would  be  to  hear,  for  they  went  to  meet  him  ;  and  were 
no  doubt  astonished  to  find  that  the  sudden  recovery  of 
the  boy  was  due  to  Him  whom  their  master  had  visited. 
The  cure  had  travelled  much  faster  than  he  who  had 
received  the  assurance  of  it. 

The  process  by  which  they  verified  the  miracle  and 
connected  the  cure  with  the  word  of  Jesus  was  simple, 
but  perfectly  satisfactory.  They  compared  notes  re- 
garding the  time,  and  found  that  the  utterance  of  Jesus 
was  simultaneous  with  the  recovery  of  the  boy.  The 
servants  who  saw  the  boy  recover  did  not  ascribe  his 
recovery  to  any  miraculous  agency ;  they  would  no 
doubt  suppose  that  it  was  one  of  those  unaccountable 
cases  which  occasionally  occur,  and  which  most  of  us 
have  witnessed.     Nature  has  secrets  which  the  most 


iv.  31-54.]        THE  SECOND  SIGN  IN  GAULEE.  171 

skilful  of  her  interpreters  cannot  disclose ;  and  even  so 
marvellous  a  thing  as  an  instantaneous  cure  of  a  hope- 
less case  may  be  due  to  some  hidden  law  of  nature.  But 
no  sooner  did  their  master  assure  them  that  the  hour 
in  which  the  boy  began  to  amend  was  the  very  hour  in 
which  Jesus  said  he  would  get  better,  than  they  all  saw 
to  what  agency  the  cure  was  due. 

Here  lies  the  special  significance  of  this  miracle ;  it 
brings  into  prominence  this  distinctive  peculiarity  of 
a  miracle,  that  it  consists  of  a  marvel  which  is  coin- 
cident with  an  express  announcement  of  it,  and  is 
therefore  referrible  to  a  personal  agent.*  It  is  the 
two  things  taken  together  that  prove  that  there  is  a 
superhuman  agency.  The  marvel  alone,  a  sudden  return 
of  sight  to  the  blind,  or  of  vigour  to  the  paralysed, 
does  not  prove  that  there  is  anything  supernatural  in 
the  case ;  but  if  this  marvel  follows  upon  the  word  of 
one  who  commands  it,  and  does  so  in  all  cases  in 
which  such  a  command  is  given,  it  becomes  obvious 
that  this  is  not  the  working  of  a  hidden  law  of  nature, 
nor  a  mere  coincidence,  but  the  intervention,  of  a  super- 
natural agency.  That  which  convinced  the  nobleman's 
household  that  a  miracle  had  been  wrought  was  not 
the  recovery  of  the  boy,  but  his  recovery  in  connection 
with  the  word  of  Jesus.  What  they  felt  they  had  to 
account  for  was  not  merely  the  marvellous  recovery, 
but  his  recovery  at  that  particular  time.  Even  though 
it  could  be  shown,  then, — as  it  can  never  be, — that 
every  cure  reported  in  the  Gospels  might  possibly  be 
the  result  of  some  natural  law,  even  though  it  could 
be  shown  that  men  born  blind  might  receive  their  sight 
without  a  miracle,  and  that  persons  who  had  consulted 

'  This  ia  lucidly  taught  in  Mozley's  Bampton  Ltctura, 


I7t  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

the  best  physician  suddenly  recovered  strength — this, 
we  are  to  remember,  is  by  no  means  the  whole  of  what 
we  have  to  account  for.  We  have  to  account  not  only 
for  sudden,  and  certainly  most  extraordinary  cures,  but 
also  for  these  cures  following  uniformly,  and  in  every 
case  the  word  of  One  who  said  the  cure  would  follow. 
It  is  this  coincidence  which  puts  it  beyond  a  doubt 
that  the  cures  can  be  referred  only  to  the  will  of 
Christ. 

Another  striking  feature  of  this  miracle  is  that  the 
Agent  was  at  a  distance  from  the  subject  of  it. 
This  is,  of  course,  quite  beyond  our  comprehension. 
We  cannot  understand  how  the  will  of  Jesus,  without 
employing  any  known  physical  means  of  communication 
between  Himself  and  the  boy,  without  even  appearing 
before  him  so  as  to  seem  to  inspire  him  by  look  or 
word,  should  instantaneously  effect  his  cure.  The  only 
possible  link  of  such  a  kind  between  the  boy  and  Jesus 
was  that  he  may  have  been  aware  that  his  father  had 
gone  to  seek  help  for  him,  from  a  renowned  physician, 
and  may  have  had  his  hopes  greatly  excited.  This 
supposition  is,  however,  gratuitous.  The  boy  may  quite 
as  likely  have  been  delirious,  or  too  young  to  know 
anything ;  and  even  though  this  slender  link  did  exist, 
no  sensible  person  will  build  much  on  that.  And 
certainly  it  is  encouraging  to  find  that  even  while  on 
earth  our  Lord  did  not  require  to  be  in  contact  with 
the  person  healed.  "  His  word  was  as  effective  as 
His  presence."  And  if  it  is  credible  that  while  on 
earth  He  could  heal  at  the  distance  of  twenty  miles, 
it  is  difficult  to  disbelieve  that  He  can  from  heaven 
exercise  the  same  omnipotent  will 

Non. — It  is  not  apparent  why  John  appends  the 


iv.  31-54.)     TJ/E  SECOND  SIGN  IN  GALILEE,  Hi 

remark,  "  This  is  again  the  second  sign  that  Jesos  did, 
having  come  out  of  Judaea  into  Galilee."  He  may, 
perhaps,  have  only  intended  to  call  attention  more 
distinctly  to  the  place  where  the  miracle  was  wrought. 
This  idea  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  John  shows, 
on  parallel  lines,  the  manifestation  of  Christ  in  Judaea 
and  in  Galilee.  It  is  just  possible  that  he  may  have 
wished  to  warn  readers  of  the  Synoptical  Gospels,  that 
Jesus  had  not  yet  begun  the  Galilaeaa  ministry  with 
which  those  Gospels  open. 


XII. 

SABBATH  CURE  AT  BETHESDA, 


m 


•*  After  these  thingfs  there  was  a  feast  of  the  Jews;  and  Jesus  went 
up  to  Jerusalem.  Now  there  is  in  Jerusalem  by  the  sheep  gate  a  pool, 
which  is  called  in  Hebrew  Bethesda,  having  five  porches.  In  these 
lay  a  multitude  of  them  that  were  sick,  blind,  halt,  withered.  And 
a  certain  man  was  there,  which  had  been  thirty  and  eight  years  in 
his  infirmity.  When  Jesus  saw  him  lying,  and  knew  that  he  had 
been  now  a  long  time  in  that  case.  He  saith  unto  him,  Wouldest  thou 
be  made  whole  ?  The  sick  man  answered  Him,  Sir,  I  have  no  man, 
when  the  water  is  troubled,  to  put  me  into  the  pool ;  but  while  I  am 
coming,  another  steppeth  down  before  me.  Jesus  saith  unto  him. 
Arise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk.  And  straightway  the  man  was 
made  whole,  and  took  up  his  bed  and  walked.  Now  it  was  the  Sab- 
bath on  that  day.  So  the  Jews  said  unto  him  that  was  cured, 
It  is  the  Sabbath,  and  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  take  up  thy  bed. 
But  he  answered  them.  He  that  made  me  whole,  the  same  said  unto 
me,  Take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk.  They  asked  him.  Who  is  the  man 
that  said  unto  thee,  Take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk  ?  But  he  that  was 
healed  wist  not  who  it  was  :  for  Jesus  had  conveyed  Himself  away, 
a  multitude  being  in  the  place.  Afterward  Jesus  findeth  him  in  the 
temple,  and  said  unto  him,  Behold,  thou  art  made  whole;  sin  no 
more,  lest  a  worse  thing  befall  thee."— John  v.  1-14. 


XIL 

SABBATH  CURE  AT  BRTHESDA 

THE  miracle  here  recorded  is  selected  by  John 
because  in  it  Jesus  plainly  signified  that  He 
had  power  to  quicken  whom  He  would  (v.  21),  and 
because  it  became  the  occasion  for  the  unbelief  of  the 
Jews  to  begin  the  hardening  process  and  appear  as 
opposition. 

The  miracle  was  wrought  when  Jerusalem  was  full ; 
although  v\'hether  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  or 
Purim,  may  be  doubted.  The  pool  at  the  sheep-gate 
or  sheep-market  is  commonly  identified  with  the  Foun- 
tain of  the  Virgin,  which  still  supplies  a  bath  known 
as  Hammam  esh  Sheja^  the  Bath  of  Healing.  It  seems 
to  have  been  an  intermittent  spring,  which  possessed 
some  healing  virtue  for  a  certain  class  of  ailments. 
Its  repute  was  well  established,  for  a  great  multitude 
of  hopeful  patients  waited  for  the  moving  of  the 
waters.* 

To  this  natural  hospital  Jesus  wended  His  way  on 
the  Sabbath  of  the  feast.  And  as  the  trained  eye  of 
the  surgeon  quickly  selects  the  worst  case  in  the  wait- 
ing-room, so  is  the  eye  of  Jesus  speedily  fixed  on  "  a 
man  which  had  an  infirmity  thirty  and  eight  years," 

'  Verse  4  is  omitted  by  recent  editors  on  the  authority  of  tfa*  best 
ancient  MSS. 

HI  12 


I7>  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

a  man  paralysed  apparently  in  mind  as  well  as  in  body 
Few  employments  could  be  more  utterly  paralysing 
than  lying  there,  gazing  dreamily  into  the  water,  and 
listening  to  the  monotonous  drone  of  the  cripples 
detailing  symptoms  every  one  was  sick  of  hearing 
about.  The  little  periodic  excitement  caused  by  the 
strife  to  be  first  down  the  steps  to  the  bubbling  up  of 
the  spring  was  enough  for  him.  Hopeless  imbecility 
was  written  on  his  face.  Jesus  sees  that  for  him 
there  will  never  be  healing  by  waiting  here. 

Going  up  to  this  man,  our  Lord  confronts  him  with 
the  arousing  question,  "  Are  you  desiring  to  be  made 
whole  ?  "  The  question  was  needful.  Not  always  are 
the  miserable  willing  to  be  relieved.  Medical  men 
have  sometimes  offered  to  heal  the  mendicant's  sores, 
and  their  aid  has  been  rejected.  Even  the  invalid  who 
does  not  trade  pecuniarily  on  his  disease  is  very  apt 
to  trade  upon  the  sympathy  and  indulgence  of  friends, 
and  sometimes  becomes  so  debilitated  in  character  as 
to  shrink  from  a  life  of  activity  and  toil.  Those  who 
have  sunk  out  of  all  honest  ways  of  living  into  poverty 
and  wretchednesss  are  not  always  eager  to  put  them' 
selves  into  the  harness  of  honest  labour  and  respect- 
ability. And  this  reluctance  is  exhibited  in  its  extreme 
form  in  those  who  are  content  to  be  spiritual  imbeciles, 
because  they  shrink  from  all  arduous  work  and  respons- 
ible position.  Life,  true  life  such  as  Christ  calls  us 
to,  with  all  its  obligations  to  others,  its  honest  and 
spontaneous  devotion  to  spiritual  ends,  its  risks,  its 
reality,  and  purity,  does  not  seem  attractive  to  the 
spiritual  valetudinarian.  In  fact,  nothing  so  thoroughly 
reveals  a  man  to  himself,  nothing  so  clearly  discloses 
to  him  his  real  aims  and  likings,  as  the  answer  he  finds 
he  can  give  to  the  simple  question,  "Are  you  willing 


r.l-14.]  SABBATH  CURE  AT  BETHESDA.  179 

to  be  made  whole  ?  Are  you  willing  to  be  fitted  for 
the  highest  and  purest  life  ?  " 

The  man  is  sufficiently  alive  to  feel  the  implied 
rebuke,  and  apologetically  answers,  "  Sir,  I  have  no 
one  to  put  me  into  the  pool.  It  is  not  that  I  am 
resigned  to  this  life  of  uselessness,  but  I  have  no 
option."  The  very  answer,  however,  showed  that  he 
was  hopeless.  It  had  become  the  established  order  of 
things  with  him  that  some  one  anticipated  him.  He 
speaks  of  it  as  regularly  happening — "another  steps 
down  before  me."  He  had  no  friend — not  one  that 
would  spare  time  to  wait  beside  him  and  watch  for 
the  welling  up  of  the  water.  And  he  had  no  thought 
of  help  coming  from  any  other  quarter.  But  there  is 
that  in  the  appearance  and  manner  of  Jesus  that 
quickens  the  man's  attention,  and  makes  him  wonder 
whether  He  will  not  perhaps  stand  by  him  and  help 
him  at  the  next  moving  of  the  waters.  While  these 
thoughts  are  passing  through  his  mind  the  words  of 
Jesus  ring  with  power  in  his  ears,  "  Rise,  take  up  thy 
bed,  and  walk."  And  he  who  had  so  long  waited  in 
vain  to  be  healed  at  the  spring,  is  instantaneously 
made  whole  by  the  word  of  Jesus. 

John  habitually  considered  the  miracles  of  Jesus  as 
"  signs  "  or  object  lessons,  in  which  the  spiritual  mind 
might  read  unseen  truth.  They  were  intended  to 
present  to  the  eye  a  picture  of  the  similar  but  greater 
works  which  Jesus  wrought  in  the  region  of  the  spirit 
He  heals  the  blind,  and  therein  sets  Himself  before 
men  as  the  Light  of  the  world.  He  gives  the  hungry 
bread,  but  is  disappointed  that  they  do  not  from  this 
conclude  that  He  is  Himself  the  Bread  sent  by  the 
Father  to  nourish  to  Ufe  everlasting.  He  heals  this 
impotent  man,  and  marvels  that  in  this  healing  the 


l8o  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

people  do  not  see  a  sign  that  He  is  the  Son  who  docs 
the  Father's  works,  and  who  can  give  life  to  whom  He 
will.  It  is  legitimate,  therefore,  to  see  in  this  cure  the 
embodiment  of  spiritual  truth. 

This  man  represents  those  who  for  many  years  have 
known  their  infirmity,  and  who  have  continued,  if  not 
very  definitely  to  hope  for  spiritual  vigour,  at  least  to 
put  themselves  in  the  way  of  being  healed — to  give 
themselves,  as  invalids  do,  all  the  chances.  This 
crowding  of  the  pool  of  Bethesda — the  house  of  mercy 
or  grace — strongly  resembles  our  frequenting  of  ordi- 
nances, a  practice  which  manycontinue  in  very  much 
the  state  of  mind  of  this  paralytic.  They  are  still 
as  infirm  as  when  they  first  began  to  look  for  cure ; 
it  seems  as  if  their  turn  were  never  to  come,  though 
they  have  seen  many  remarkable  cures.  Theoretically 
they  have  no  doubt  of  the  efficacy  of  Christian  grace  ; 
practically  they  have  no  expectation  that  they  shall 
ever  be  strong,  vigorous  useful  men  in  His  Kingdom. 
If  you  asked  them  why  they  are  so  punctual  in  attend- 
ance on  all  religious  services,  they  would  say,  "  Why, 
is  it  not  a  right  thing  to  do  ? "  Press  them  further 
with  our  Lord's  question,  "Are  you  expecting  to  be 
made  whole  ?  Is  this  your  purpose  in  coming  here  ?  * 
They  will  refer  you  to  their  past,  and  tell  you  how  it 
has  always  seemed  to  be  some  other  person's  case  that 
was  thought  of,  how  the  Spirit  of  God  seemed  always 
to  have  other  work  than  that  which  concerned  th  m. 
But  here  they  are  still — and  commendably  and  wisely 
so ;  for  if  this  man  had  begun  to  disbelieve  in  the  virtue 
of  the  water  because  he  himself  had  never  experienced 
its  power,  and  had  shut  himself  up  in  some  wretched 
solitude  of  his  own,  then  the  eye  of  the  Lord  had  never 
rested  upon  him — here  they  are  still  ^  for  the  best  part 


V.  I-I4.]  SABBATH  CURE  AT  BKTHESDA,  itl 

of  a  lifetime  they  have  been  on  the  brink  of  health,  and 
yet  have  never  got  it ;  for  eight-and-thirty  years  this 
man  had  seen  that  water,  knew  that  it  healed  people, 
put  his  hand  in  it,  gazed  on  it, — yes,  there  it  was,  and 
could  heal  htm,  and  yet  his  turn  never  came.  So  do 
these  persons  frequent  the  ordinances,  hear  the  word 
that  can  save  them,  touch  the  bread  of  communion,  and 
know  that  by  the  blessing  of  God  the  bread  of  life  is 
thereby  conveyed,  and  yet  year  by  year  goes  past,  an4 
for  them  all  remains  unblessed.  They  begin  despair 
ingly  to  say — 

"  Thy  saints  are  comforted,  I  know, 
And  love  Thy  house  of  prayer  | 
I  therefore  go  where  others  go, 
But  find  no  comfort  there." 

This  miracle  shows  such  persons  that  there  Is  a 
shorter  way  to  health  than  a  languid  attendance  on 
ordinances — an  attendance  that  is  satisfied  if  there  seems 
to  be  still  in  operation  what  may  be  useful  to  others. 
It  is  the  voice  of  Christ  they  need  to  hear.  It  is  that 
voice  summoning  to  thought  and  hope  that  we  all  need 
to  hear,  "Wilt  thou  be  made  whole?"  Are  you  weary 
and  ashamed  of  your  infirmity  ;  would  you  fain  be  a 
whole  man  in  Christ,  able  at  last  to  walk  through  life 
as  a  living  man,  seeing  the  beauty  of  God  and  of  His 
work,  and  meeting  with  gladness  the  whole  require- 
ments of  a  life  in  God?  Does  the  very  beauty  of 
Christ's  manhood,  as  He  stands  before  you,  make  you 
at  once  ashamed  of  your  weakness  and  covetous  of 
His  strength  ?  Do  you  see  in  Him  what  it  is  to  be 
strong,  to  enter  into  life,  to  begin  to  live  as  a  man 
ought  always  to  live,  and  are  you  earnestly  looking 
to  receive  power  from  on  high  ?     Tp  such  come  the 


l8f  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

life-giving  voice  of  the  Word  who  utters  Grod,  and  the 
hfe  that  is  in  God. 

It  is  important  to  notice  that  in  Christ's  word  to  the 
sick,  "  Rise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk,"  three  things 
are  implied — 

1.  There  must  be  a  prompt  response  to  Christ's 
word.  He  does  not  heal  any  one  who  lies  sluggishly 
waiting  to  see  what  that  word  will  effect.  There 
must  be  a  hearty  and  immediate  recognition  of  the 
speaker's  truth  and  power.  We  cannot  say  to  what 
extent  the  impotent  man  would  feel  a  current  of  nervous 
energy  invigorating  him.  Probably  this  consciousness 
of  new  strength  would  only  succeed  his  cordial  reliance 
on  the  word  of  Christ.  Obey  Christ,  and  you  will  find 
strength  enough.  Believe  in  His  power  to  give  you 
new  life,  and  you  will  have  it.  But  do  not  hesitate,  do 
not  question,  do  not  delay. 

2.  There  must  be  no  thought  of  failure,  no  making 
provision  for  a  relapse ;  the  bed  must  be  rolled  up  as 
no  longer  needed.  How  do  those  diseased  men  of  the 
Gospels  rebuke  us  1  We  seem  always  half  in  doubt 
whether  we  should  make  bold  to  live  as  whole  men. 
We  take  a  few  feeble  steps,  and  return  to  the  bed  we 
have  left.  From  life  by  faith  in  Christ  we  sink  back  to 
life  as  we  knew  it  without  Christ — a  life  attempting 
little,  and  counting  it  a  thing  too  high  for  us  to  put 
ourselves  and  our  all  at  God's  disposal.  If  we  set  out 
to  swim  the  Channel  we  take  care  to  have  a  boat  within 
hail  to  pick  us  up  if  we  become  exhausted.  To  make 
provision  for  failure  is  in  the  Christian  life  to  secure 
failure.  It  betrays  a  half-heartedness  in  our  faith,  a 
lurking  unbelief  which  must  bring  disaster.  Have  we 
rolled  up  our  bed  and  tossed  it  aside  ?  If  Christ  fails 
us,  have  we  nothing  to  fall  back  upon  ?    Is  it  faith  in 


▼.I-I4.J     SABBATH  CURE  AT  BETHESDA.  183 

Him  that  really  keeps  us  going?  Is  it  His  view  of 
the  world  and  of  all  that  is  in  it  that  we  have  accepted ; 
or  do  we  merely  take  a  few  steps  on  His  principles,  but 
in  the  main  make  our  bed  in  the  ordinary  unenlightened 
worldly  life  ? 

3.  There  must  be  a  continuous  use  made  of  the 
strength  Christ  gives.  The  man  who  had  lain  for 
thirty-eight  years  was  told  to  walk.  We  must  confront 
many  duties  without  any  past  experience  to  assure  us 
of  success.  We  must  proceed  to  do  them  in  faith — in 
the  faith  that  He  who  bids  us  do  them  will  give  us 
strength  for  them.  Take  your  place  at  once  among 
healthy  men;  recognise  the  responsibilities  of  life. 
Find  an  outlet  for  the  new  strength  in  you.  Be  no 
longer  a  burden,  a  charge  to  others,  but  begin  yourself 
to  bear  the  burdens  of  others,  and  be  a  source  of 
strength  to  others. 

Before  the  man  could  get  home  with  his  bed  he  was 
challenged  for  carrying  it  on  the  Sabbath.  They  must 
surely  have  known  that  he  himself,  and  many  more,  had 
that  very  morning  been  carried  to  Bethesda.  But  we 
can  scarcely  conclude  from  the  Jews  thus  challenging 
the  healed  man  that  they  sought  occasion  against  Jesus. 
They  would  have  stopped  any  one  going  through  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem  with  a  bundle  on  the  Sabbath. 
They  had  Scripture  on  their  side,  and  founded  on  the 
words  of  Jeremiah  (xvii.  21),  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves, 
and  bear  no  burden  on  the  Sabbath  day."  Even  in 
our  own  streets  a  man  carrying  a  large  package  on 
Sunday  would  attract  the  suspicion  of  the  religious,  if 
not  of  the  police.  We  must  not,  then,  find  a  malicious 
intention  towards  Jesus,  but  merely  the  accustomed 
thoughtless  bigotry  and  literalism,  in  the  challenge  of 
the  Jews. 


l84  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

But  to  their  "  It  is  not  lawful,"  the  man  promptly 
answers,  perhaps  only  meaning  to  screen  himself  by 
throwing  the  blame  on  another,  "  He  that  made  me 
whole,  the  same  said  unto  me.  Take  up  thy  bed."  The 
man  quite  naturally,  and  without  till  now  reflecting  on 
his  own  conduct,  had  listened  to  Christ's  word  at 
authoritative.  He  that  gave  me  strength  told  me  how 
to  use  it.  Intuitively  the  man  lays  down  the  great 
principle  of  Christian  obedience.  If  Christ  is  the  source 
of  life  to  me,  He  must  also  be  the  source  of  law.  If 
without  Him  I  am  helpless  and  useless,  it  stands  to 
reason  that  I  must  consider  His  will  in  the  use  of 
the  life  He  communicates.  This  must  always  be  the 
Christian's  defence  when  the  world  is  scandalised  by 
anything  he  does  in  obedience  to  Christ ;  when  he  goes 
in  the  face  of  its  traditions  and  customs ;  when  he  is 
challenged  for  singularity,  overpreciseness,  or  innova- 
tion. This  is  the  law  which  the  Christian  must  still 
bear  in  mind  when  he  fears  to  thwart  any  prejudice  of 
the  world,  when  he  is  tempted  to  bide  his  time  among 
the  impotent  folk,  and  not  fly  in  the  face  of  established 
usage ;  when,  though  he  has  distinctly  understood  what 
he  ought  to  do,  so  many  difficulties  threaten,  that  he  is 
tempted  to  withdraw  into  obscurity  and  indolence.  It 
is  the  same  Voice  which  gives  life  and  directs  it.  Shall 
I  then  refuse  it  in  both  cases,  or  choose  it  in  both  ? 
Shall  I  shrink  from  its  directions,  and  lie  down  again  in 
sin ;  or  shall  I  accept  life,  and  with  it  the  still  greater 
boon  of  spending  it  as  Christ  wills  ? 

But  though  the  man  had  thus  instinctively  obeyed 
Jesus,  he  actually  had  not  had  the  curiosity  to  ask 
who  He  was.  It  is  almost  incredible  that  he  should 
have  so  immediately  lost  sight  of  the  person  to  whom 
he  was  so  indebted.     But  so  taken  up  is  he  with  hit 


W.  1-14.1  SABBATH  CURE  AT  BETHESDA.  itj 

new  sensations,  so  occupied  with  gathering  up  his 
mats,  so  beset  by  the  congratulations  and  inquiries 
of  his  comrades  at  the  porch,  that  before  he  bethinks 
himself  Jesus  is  gone.  Among  those  who  do  un- 
doubtedly profit  by  Christ's  work  there  is  a  lament- 
able and  culpable  lack  of  interest  in  His  person.  It 
does  not  seem  to  matter  from  whom  they  have  received 
these  benefits  so  long  as  they  have  them ;  they  dc 
not  seem  drawn  to  His  person,  ever  following  to  know 
more  of  Him  and  to  enjoy  His  society,  as  the  poor 
demoniac  would  have  done,  who  would  gladly  have 
left  home  and  country,  and  who  cared  not  what  line 
of  life  he  might  be  thrown  into  or  what  thrown  out 
of,  if  only  he  might  be  with  Christ.  If  one  were 
to  put  the  case,  that  my  prospects  were  eternally  and 
in  each  particular  changed  by  the  intervention  of  one 
whose  love  is  itself  infinite  blessing,  and  if  it  were 
asked  what  would  be  my  feeling  towards  such  a 
person,  doubtless  I  would  say.  He  would  have  an 
unrivalled  interest  for  me,  and  I  should  be  irresistibly 
drawn  into  the  most  intimate  personal  knowledge  and 
relations ;  but  no — the  melancholy  truth  is  otherwise ; 
the  gift  is  delighted  in,  the  giver  is  suffered  to  be  lost 
in  the  crowd.  The  spectacle  is  presented  of  a  vast 
number  of  persons  made  blessed  through  the  inter- 
vention of  Christ,  who  are  yet  more  concerned  to 
exhibit  their  own  new  life  and  acquirements,  than  to 
identify  and  keep  hold  of  Him  to  whom  they  owe  all. 

Although  the  healed  man  seems  to  have  had  little 
interest  in  Christ,  Christ  kept  His  eye  upon  him. 
Finding  him  in  the  Temple,  where  he  had  gone  to  give 
thanks  for  his  recovery,  or  to  see  a  place  he  had  so 
long  been  excluded  from,  or  merely  because  it  was  a 
place  of  public  resort,  our  Lord  addressed  him  in  the 


l86  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

emphatic  words,  "  Sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come 
upon  thee."  The  natural  inference  from  these  words 
is  that  his  disease  had  been  brought  on  by  sin  in 
early  life — another  instance  of  the  lifelong  misery 
a  man  may  incur  by  almost  his  earliest  responsible 
acts,  of  the  difficulties  and  shame  with  which  a  lad 
or  a  boy  may  unwittingly  fill  his  life,  but  an  instance 
also  of  the  willingness  with  which  Christ  delivers 
us  even  from  miseries  we  have  rashly  brought  upon 
ourselves.  Further  still,  it  is  an  instance  of  the  vitality 
of  sin.  This  man's  lifelong  punishment  had  not  broken 
the  power  of  sin  within  him.  He  knew  why  he  was 
diseased  and  shattered.  Every  pain  he  felt,  every 
desire  which  through  weakness  he  could  not  gratify, 
every  vexing  thought  of  what  he  might  have  made 
of  life,  made  him  hate  his  sin  as  the  cause  of  all  his 
wretchedness ;  and  yet  at  the  end  of  these  thirty-eight 
years  of  punishment  Christ  recognised  in  him,  even  la 
the  first  days  of  restored  health,  a  liability  to  return 
to  his  sin.  But  every  day  we  see  the  same ;  every 
day  we  see  men  keeping  themselves  down,  and  gather- 
ing all  kinds  of  misery  round  them  by  persisting  in 
sin.  We  say  of  this  man  and  that,  "  How  is  it  possible 
he  can  still  cleave  to  his  sin,  no  better,  no  wiser 
for  all  he  has  come  through  ?  One  would  have  thought 
former  lessons  sufficient"  But  no  amount  of  mere 
suffering  purifies  from  sin.  One  has  sometimes  a  kind 
of  satisfaction  in  reaping  the  consequences  of  sin,  as 
if  that  would  deter  from  future  sin ;  but  if  this  will 
not  hold  us  back,  what  will?  Partly  the  perception 
that  already  God  forgives  us,  and  partly  the  belief  that 
when  Christ  commands  us  to  sin  no  more  He  can 
give  U8  strength  to  sin  no  more.  Who  believes  with 
a  deep  and  abiding  conviction  that  Christ's  will  can 


v.l-14.  SABBATH  CURE  AT  BETHESDA,  lly 

raise  him  from  all  spiritual  impotence  and  uselessness  ? 
He,  and  he  only,  can  hope  to  conquer  sin.  To  rely 
upon  Christ's  word,  "Sin  no  more,"  with  the  same 
confident  faith  with  which  this  man  acted  on  His 
word,  "  Rise,  take  up  thy  bed " — this  alone  gives 
victory  over  sin.  If  our  own  will  is  too  weak,  Christ's 
will  is  always  mighty.  Identify  your  will  with  Christ's, 
and  you  have  His  strength. 

But  the  fear  of  punishment  has  also  its  place.  The 
man  is  warned  that  a  worse  thing  will  fall  upon  him  if 
he  sins.  Sinning  after  the  beginning  of  deliverance, 
we  not  only  fall  back  into  such  remorse,  darkness,  and 
misery  as  have  already  in  this  life  followed  our  sin, 
but  a  worse  thing  will  come  upon  us.  But  "  worse." 
What  can  be  worse  than  the  loss  of  an  entire  life  ;  like 
this  man,  passing  in  disappointment,  in  uselessness,  in 
shame,  the  time  which  all  naturally  expect  shall  be  filled 
with  activity,  success,  and  happiness ;  losing,  and  losing 
early,  and  losing  by  one's  own  fault,  and  losing  hope- 
lessly, everything  that  makes  life  desirable  ?  Few  men 
so  entirely  miss  life  as  this  man  did,  though  perhaps 
our  activities  are  often  more  hurtful  than  his  absolute 
inactivity,  and  under  an  appearance  of  prosperity  the 
heart  may  have  been  torn  with  remorse  as  painful  as 
his.  Yet  let  no  man  think  that  he  knows  the  worst 
that  sin  can  do.  After  the  longest  experience  we  may 
sink  deeper  still,  andindeed  must  do  so  unless  we  listen 
to  Christ's  voice  saying,  "  Behold,  thou  art  made  whole : 
sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come  upon  thee." 


xia 

JESUS  UFE-GIVER  AND  JUDGE, 


i8q 


"  The  man  went  away,  and  told  the  Jews  that  it  was  Jesus  which  had 
made  him  whole.  And  for  this  cause  did  the  Jews  persecute  Jesus, 
because  He  did  these  things  on  the  sabbath.  But  Jes'djs  answered  them. 
My  Father  worketh  even  until  now,  and  I  work.  For  this  cause  there- 
fore the  Jews  sought  the  more  to  kill  Him,  because  He  not  only  brake 
the  sabbath,  but  also  called  God  His  own  Father,  making  Himself  equal 
with  God.  Jesus  therefore  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  you.  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  Himself,  but  what  He  seeth 
the  Father  doing  :  for  what  things  soever  He  doeth,  these  the  Son  also 
doeth  in  like  manner.  For  the  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  sheweth  Him 
all  things  that  Himself  doeth  :  and  greater  works  than  these  will  He  shew 
Him,  that  ye  may  marvel.  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  the  dead  and 
quickeneth  them,  even  so  the  Son  also  quickeneth  whom  He  wilL  For 
neither  doth  the  Father  judge  any  man,  but  He  hath  given  all  judgement 
unto  the  Son  ;  that  all  may  honour  the  Son,  even  as  they  honour  the 
Father.  He  that  honoureth  not  the  Son  honoureth  not  the  Father 
which  sent  Him.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He  that  heareth  My 
word,  and  believeth  Him  that  sent  Me,  hath  eternal  life,  and  cometh  not 
nto  judgement,  but  hath  passed  out  of  death  into  hfe.  Verily,  verily,  I 
say  unto  you.  The  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live.  For  as  the 
Father  hath  life  in  Himself,  even  so  gave  He  to  the  Son  also  to  have  life 
in  Himself :  and  Hegave  Him  authority  to  executejudgeraent,  because  He 
is  the  Son  of  man.  Marvel  not  at  this  :  for  the  hour  cometh,  in  which 
all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  His  voice,  and  shall  come  forth  ;  they 
that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life  ;  and  they  that  have 
done  ill,  unto  the  resurrection  of  judgement.  I  can  of  Myself  do  nothing ; 
as  I  hear,  I  judge  :  and  My  judgement  is  righteous ;  because  I  seek  not 
Mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me.  If  I  bear  witness  of 
Myself,  My  witness  is  not  true.  It  is  another  that  beareth  witness  of 
Me  ;  and  I  know  that  the  witness  which  He  witnesseth  of  Me  is  true. 
Ye  have  sent  unto  John,  and  he  hath  borne  witness  unto  the  truth.  But 
the  vdtness  which  I  receive  is  not  from  man  :  howbeit  I  say  these  things, 
that  ye  may  be  saved.  He  was  the  lamp  that  bumeth  and  shineth  :  and 
ye  were  willing  to  rejoice  for  a  season  in  his  light  But  the  witness 
which  I  have  is  greater  than  that  of  John  :  for  the  works  which  the 
Father  hath  given  Me  to  accomplisii,  the  very  works  that  I  do,  bear 
witness  of  Me,  that  the  Father  hath  sent  Me.     And  the  Father  which 

191 


sent  Me,  He  hath  borne  witness.of  Me.  Ye  have  neither  heard  His  voice 
at  any  time,  nor  seen  His  form.  And  ye  have  not  His  word  abiding  ia 
joa  :  for  whom  He  sent,  Him  ye  believe  not  Ye  search  the  scriptures, 
because  ye  think  that  in  them  ye  have  eternal  life ;  and  these  are  they 
which  bear  witness  of  Me ;  and  ye  will  not  come  to  Me,  that  ye  may 
have  life.  I  receive  not  glory  from  men.  But  I  know  yon,  that  ye  have 
not  the  love  of  God  in  yourselves.  I  am  come  in  My  Father's  name, 
and  ye  receive  Me  not :  if  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  him  ye 
will  receive.  How  can  ye  believe,  which  receive  glory  one  of  another, 
and  the  glory  that  cometh  from  the  only  God  ye  seek  not  ?  Think  not 
that  I  will  accuse  you  to  the  Father  :  there  is  one  that  accuseth  you, 
even  Moses,  on  whom  ye  have  set  your  hope.  For  if  ye  believed  Moses, 
ye  would  believe  Me ;  for  he  wrote  of  M&  But  if  ye  believe  not  hk 
writings,  how  shall  ye  believe  My  words  ?  " — John  v.  li'4J, 


Xllt 

JESUS  UFE-GIVER  AND  JUDGE, 

AS  soon  as  the  impotent  man  discovered  who  it  was 
that  had  given  him  strength,  he  informed  the 
authorities,  either  from  sheer  thoughtlessness,  or  be- 
cause he  considered  that  they  had  a  right  to  know,  or 
because  he  judged  that,  like  himself,  they  would  rather 
admire  the  miracle  than  take  exception  to  the  Sabbath- 
breaking.  If  this  last  VJZ&  his  idea,  he  had  not  gauged 
the  obtuseness  and  self-righteous  spite  of  honest  and 
pious  literalism.  "  For  this  cause  did  the  Jews  per- 
secute Jesus,  because  He  did  these  things  on  the 
Sabbath."*  In  what  particular  form,  the  charge 
of  Sabbath-breaking  was  brought  against  our  Lord, 
whether  formal  or  conversational  and  tentative,  John 
does  not  say.  He  is  more  concerned  to  give  us  in  full 
the  substance  of  His  apology.  For  the  first  time  our 
Lord  now  gave  in  public  an  explanation  of  His  claims ; 
and  this  five  minutes'  talk  with  the  Jews  contains 
probably  the  most  important  truth  ever  uttered  upon 
earth. 

The  passage  embodies  the  four  following  assertions  : 
that  the  healing  of  the  incurable  on  the  Sabbath  resulted 
from  and  exhibited  His  perfect  unison  with  the  Father ; 

'  Similarly  in  the  Synoptical  Gospels  the  hostility  of  the  Jews  is  traced 
to  His  iq>parent  breach  of  the  Sabbath  law. 

«93  13 


194  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

that  this  giving  of  life  to  an  impotent  man  was  an  illus- 
tration or  sign  of  His  power  to  quicken  whom  He  would, 
to  communicate  life  Divine  and  eternal  to  all  in  whatso- 
ever stage  of  spiritual  or  physical  deadness  they  were  ; 
that  His  claim  to  possess  this  supreme  power  was  not 
mere  idle  assertion,  but  was  both  guaranteed  by  this 
miracle,  and  otherwise  was  amply  attested ;  and  that  the 
real  root  of  their  rejection  of  Him  and  His  claims  was 
to  be  found,  not  in  their  superior  knowledge  of  God  and 
regard  for  His  will,  but  in  their  worldly  craving  for  the 
applause  of  men.^ 

I.  Our  Lord's  reply  to  the  charge  of  Sabbath- 
breaking  is,  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work." 
He  did  not  make  any  comment  on  the  Sabbath  law. 
He  did  not  defend  Himself  by  showing  that  works 
of  mercy  such  as  He  had  done  were  admissible.  On 
other  occasions  He  adopted  this  line  of  defence,  but 
now  He  took  higher  ground.  The  rest  of  God  is  not 
inactivity.  God  does  not  on  the  Sabbath  cease  to 
communicate  life  to  all  things.  He  does  not  refrain 
from  blessing  men  till  the  sun  of  the  Sabbath  is  set. 
The  tides  rise  and  fall ;  the  plants  grow ;  the  sun 
completes  his  circuit  on  the  Sabbath  as  on  other  days. 
"  Why  does  not  God  keep  the  Sabbath  ?  "  a  caviller 
asked  of  a  Jew.  "  Is  it  not  lawful,"  was  the  answer, 
"for  a  man  to  move  about  in  his  own  house  on  the 
Sabbath  ?     The   house  of  God   is   the   whole   realm 

'  The  following  division  of  the  former  part  of  this  Apology  may  help 
the  reader  to  follow  the  sequence  of  thought.  In  vv.  19,  20,  Jesus 
enounces  the  general  features  of  His  relation  to  the  Father.  In  vv.  21-23 
the  works  dictated  by  this  relation  and  resulting  from  it  are  spoken 
of  generally  as  "quickening"  and  "judging."  These  works  are  in 
▼V.  24-27  exhibited  in  the  spiritual  sphere,  and  in  vv.  28,  29,  in  the 
physical  sphere.  The  first  part  of  the  defence  is  closed  in  ver.  30  with  • 
xc<affirmation  of  His  absolute  unison  with  the  Father. 


V.  15-470        JESUS  LIFE-GIVER  AND  JUDGE.  19S 

above  and  the  whole  realm  below."  For  God  the 
Sabbath  has  no  existence ;  it  is  a  boon  He  has  given 
to  His  creatures  because  they  need  it.  His  untiring 
beneficence  is  needful  for  the  upholding  and  for  the 
happiness  of  all.  And  it  is  the  same  superiority  to 
the  Sabbath  which  Jesus  claims  for  Himself.  He 
claims  that  His  unceasing  work  is  as  necessary  to  the 
world  as  the  Father's — or  rather,  that  He  and  the 
Father  are  together  carrying  out  one  work,  and  that 
in  this  miracle  the  Jews  find  fault  with  He  has  merely 
acted  as  the  Father's  agent. 

From'  this  statement  the  Jews  concluded  that  He 
made  Himself  equal  with  God.  And  they  were 
Justified  in  so  concluding.  It  is  only  on  this  under- 
standing of  His  words  that  the  defence  of  Jesus  was 
relevant.  If  He  meant  only  to  say  that  He  imitated 
God,  and  that  because  God  did  not  rest  on  the 
Sabbath,  therefore  He,  a  holy  Jew,  might  work  on  the 
Sabbath,  His  defence  was  absurd.  Our  Lord  did  not 
mean  that  He  was  imitating  the  Father,  but  that  His 
work  was  as  indispensable  as  the  Father's,  was  the 
Father's.  My  Father  from  the  beginning  up  till  now 
worketh,  giving  life  to  all ;  and  I  work  in  the  same 
sphere,  giving  life  as  His  agent  and  almoner  to  men. 
The  work  of  quickening  the  impotent  man  was  the 
Father's  work.  In  charging  Him  with  breaking  the 
Sabbath  they  were  charging  the  Father  with  breaking  it. 

But  this  gives  Jesus  an  opportunity  of  more  clearly 
describing  His  relation  to  God.  He  declares  He  is  in 
such  perfect  harmony  with  God  that  it  is  impossible 
for  Him  to  do  either  that  miracle  or  any  other  work 
at  His  own  instigation.  "The  Son  can  do  nothint? 
of  Himself,  but  what  He  seeth  the  Father  doing." 
"  I  can  of  myself  do  nothing."     He  had  power  to  do 


196  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

it,  but  no  will.  He  had  life  in  Himself,  and  could 
give  it  to  whom  He  pleased;  but  so  perfect  was  His 
sympathy  with  God,  that  it  was  impossible  for  Him 
to  act  where  God  would  not  have  Him  act.  So  trained 
was  He  to  perceive  the  Divine  purpose,  so  habituated 
to  submit  Himself  to  it,  that  He  could  neither  mistake 
His  Father's  will  nor  oppose  it  As  a  conscientious 
man  when  pressed  to  do  a  wrong  thing  says.  No, 
really  I  cannot  do  it ;  as  a  son  who  might  happen  to 
be  challenged  for  injuring  His  father's  business  would 
indignantly  repudiate  the  possibility  of  such  a  thing. 
"What  do  I  live  for,"  he  would  say,  "but  to  further 
my  father's  views  ?  My  father's  interests  and  mine 
are  identical,  our  views  and  purposes  are  identical. 
I  cannot  do  anything  antagonistic  to  him."  So  Jesus 
had  from  the  first  recognised  God  as  His  Father,  and 
had  so  true  and  deep  a  filial  feeling  that  really  it  was 
the  joy  of  His  life  to  do  His  will. 

This,  then,  was  the  idea  the  Lord  sought  to  impress 
on  the  people  on  the  first  occasion  on  which  He  had 
a  good  opportunity  of  speaking  in  public.  He  cannot 
do  anything  save  what  is  suggested  to  Him  by  con- 
sideration of  God's  will.  Even  as  a  boy  He  had  begun 
to  have  this  filial  feeling.  "Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be 
about  My  Father's  business  ?  "  That  in  Him  which  is 
most  conspicuous  and  which  He  wishes  to  be  most 
conspicuous  is  perfect  sonship ;  filial  trust  and  duty 
carried  to  its  perfect  height.  It  is  this  perfect  filial 
unanimity  with  the  Father  which  makes  His  life 
valuable,  significant,  different  from  all  other  lives.  It 
is  this  which  makes  Him  the  perfect  representative  of 
the  Father ;  which  enables  Him  to  be  God's  perfect 
messenger  to  men,  doing  always  and  only  the  will  of 
Qod  in  inen's  sight.     He  is  in  the  world  not  for  the 


»•  iS-47]        JESUS  UFE-GIVER  AND  JUDGE.  197 

sake  of  fulfilling  any  private  schemes  of  His  own,  but 
having  it  as  His  sole  motive  and  aim  to  do  the  Father's 
wiU. 

This  perfect  filial  feeling  had  no  doubt  its  root  in 
the  eternal  relation  of  the  Son  to  the  Father.  It  was 
the  continuance,  upon  earth  and  under  new  conditions, 
of  the  life  He  already  had  enjoyed  with  the  Father. 
Having  assumed  human  nature,  He  could  reveal  Him- 
self only  so  far  as  that  nature  allowed  Him.  His 
revelation,  for  example,  was  not  universal,  but  local, 
confined  to  one  place ;  His  human  nature  being  neces- 
sarily confined  to  one  place.  He  did  not  assert 
superiority  to  all  human  law ;  He  paid  taxes ;  He 
recognised  lawful  authority ;  He  did  not  convince  men 
of  His  Divinity  by  superiority  to  all  human  infirmities  ; 
He  ate,  slept,  died  as  ordinary  men.  But  through  all 
this  He  maintained  a  perfect  harmon}'  with  the  Divine 
will.  It  was  this  which  differentiated  Him  from 
ordinary  men,  that  He  maintained  throughout  His  life 
an  attitude  of  undoubting  trust  in  the  Father  and 
devotion  to  Him.  It  was  through  the  human  will  of 
the  Lord  that  the  Divine  will  of  the  Eternal  Son 
uniformly  worked  and  used  the  whole  of  His  human 
nature. 

It  is  in  this  perfect  oonship  of  Christ  we  first  learn 
what  a  son  should  be.  It  is  by  His  perfect  loyalty  to 
the  Father's  will,  by  His  uniform  adoption  of  it  as  the 
best,  the  only,  thing  He  can  do,  that  we  begin  to 
understand  our  connection  with  God,  and  to  recognise 
that  in  His  will  alone  is  our  blessedness.  Naturally 
we  resent  the  rule  of  any  will  but  our  own  ;  we  have 
not  by  nature  such  love  for  God  as  would  put  His  will 
first.  To  our  reason  it  becomes  manifest  that  there 
is  nothing  higher  or  happier  for  us  than  to  sink  our- 


198  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

selves  in  God ;  we  see  that  there  is  nothing  more 
elevating,  nothing  more  essential  to  a  hopeful  life  than 
that  we  make  God's  purposes  in  the  world  our  own, 
and  do  that  very  thing  which  He  sees  to  be  worth 
doing  and  which  He  desires  to  do.  Yet  we  find  that 
the  actual  adoption  of  this  filial  attitude,  natural, 
rational,  and  inviting  as  it  seems,  is  just  the  most 
difficult  of  all  difficulties,  is  indeed  the  battle  of  life. 
Who  among  us  can  say  that  we  do  nothing  of  ourselves, 
nothing  at  our  own  instance,  that  our  life  is  entirely 
at  God's  disposal  ? 

To  this  filial  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Son  the 
Father  responds  :  "  The  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and 
showeth  Him  all  things  that  Himself  doeth  "  (ver.  20). 
If  we  ask  how  Jesus  saw  the  Father's  works,  or  how, 
for  example.  He  saw  that  the  Father  wished  Him  to 
heal  the  impotent  man,  the  answer  must  be  that  it  is 
by  inward  sympathy  the  Son  apprehends  what  the 
Father  wills.  We  in  our  measure  can  see  what  God  is 
doing  in  the  world,  and  can  forward  God's  work.  But 
not  by  mere  observation  of  what  God  had  done  and 
was  doing  through  others  did  Jesus  see  what  the 
Father  did,  but  rather  by  His  own  inward  perception 
of  the  Father's  will.  By  His  own  purity,  love,  and 
goodness  He  knew  what  the  Father's  goodness  willed. 
But  the  Father  was  not  passive  in  the  matter,  merely 
allowing  the  Son  to  discover  what  He  could  of  His  will. 
Godet  illustrates  this  active  revelation  on  the  Father's 
part  by  the  simile  of  the  father  in  the  carpenter's  shop 
at  Nazareth  showing  the  son  the  things  he  made  and 
the  method  of  making  them.  This  simile,  however, 
being  external,  is  apt  to  misdirect  the  mind.  It  was  by 
a  wholly  inward  and  spiritual  process  the  Father  made 
kauwn  to  the  Son  His  purposes  and  mind. 


V.  15-47]        JESUS  LIFE-GIVEh   AND  JUDGE.  199 


2.  This  quickening  of  the  impotent  man  was  meant 
to  be  an  object  lesson,  a  iA^a  of  the  power  of  Jesus  to 
communicate  life,  Divine  and  eternal,  to  whom  He  would, 
"  Greater  works "  than  this  of  curing  the  paralytic 
"  will  the  Father  show  to  the  Son,  that  ye  may  marvel " 
(ver.  20).  As  through  His  word  vigour  had  been  im- 
parted to  the  impotent  man,  so  all  who  listen  to  His 
word  will  receive  everlasting  life  (ver.  24).  As  the 
impotent  man,  after  thirty-eight  years  of  deadness,  found 
life  on  the  moment  by  believing  Christ's  word,  so  every 
one  who  listens  to  that  same  voice  as  the  word  of  God 
receives  life  eternal.  Through  that  word  he  connects 
himself  with  the  source  of  life.  He  becomes  obedient 
to  the  life-giving  will  of  God. 

The  question,  How  can  the  spiritually  dead  hear 
and  believe  ?  is  the  question.  How  could  the  impotent 
man  rise  in  response  to  Christ's  word  ?  Psycho- 
logically inexplicable  it  may  be,  but  happily  it  is  prac- 
tically possible.  And  here,  as  elsewhere,  theory  must 
wait  upon  fact.  One  thing  is  plain :  that  faith  is  the 
link  between  the  Divine  life  and  human  weakness. 
Had  the  impotent  man  not  believed,  he  would  not  have 
risen.  Christ  quickens  "  whom  He  will ; "  that  is  to 
say,  there  is  no  limit  to  His  life-giving  power ;  but  He 
cannot  quicken  those  who  will  not  have  life  or  who  do 
not  believe  He  can  give  it.  Hence  necessarily  "  the 
Father  hath  committed  all  judgement  unto  the  Son." 
To  the  impotent  man  Jesus  put  the  question,  "  Wilt 
thou  be  made  whole  ? "  and  by  that  question  the  man 
was  judged.  By  the  answer  he  gave  to  it  he  determined 
whether  he  would  remain  dead  or  receive  life.  Had  he 
not  on  the  moment  believed,  he  would  have  doomed 
himself  to  permanent  and  hopeless  imbecility.  Christ's 
question  judged  bim. 


aoo  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

Precisely  so,  says  Jesus,  are  all  men  judged  by  My 
presence  among  them,  and  My  offer  of  life  to  them. 
For  the  Father  has  not  only  given  to  the  Son  to  have 
life  in  Himself,  tb?.t  He  may  thus  communicate  it 
(ver.  26),  but  '*  He  hath  given  Him  authority  to  execute 
judgement  also,  because  He  is  a  Son  of  man.*  For 
these  words  do  not  mean  that  Jesus  will  be  Judge 
because  men  should  be  judged  by  one  who  shares  their 
nature/  or  because  they  must  be  judged  by  the  holiest 
and  most  loving  of  men ' — as  if  God  Himself  were  not 
sufficiently  loving — but,  as  the  object-lesson  shows  us, 
Jesus  is  necessarily  Judge  by  appearing  as  God's 
messenger,  and  by  offering  to  men  life  everlasting. 
By  becoming  a  son  of  man,  by  living  in  human  form  as 
the  embodied  love  and  life  of  God,  and  by  making  in- 
telligible God's  good-will  and  His  invitation  to  life,  Christ 
necessarily  sifts  men  and  separates  them  into  two  classes. 
Every  one  who  hears  the  word  of  Jesus  is  judged.  He 
either  accepts  quickening  and  passes  into  life,  or  he  re- 
jects it  and  abides  in  death.  This  human  appearance, 
Jesus  seems  to  say,  which  stumbles  you,  and  makes  you 
think  that  My  pretensions  of  judging  all  men  are  absurd, 
is  the  very  qualification  which  makes  judgment  one  of 
My  necessary  functions. 

And  this  explains  why  we  find  Christ  uttering 
apparent  contradictions :  at  one  time  saying,  "  For 
judgment  came  I  into  this  world,"  and  at  another  time 
saying,  "  I  came  not  to  judge  the  world."  The  object 
of  His  coming  into  the  world  was  to  give  life,  not  to 
condemn  men,  not  to  cut  them  off  finally  from  life  and 
from  God,  but  to  open  a  way  to  the  Father,  and  to  be 
their  life.     But  this  very  coming  of  Christ  and  the  offers 

•  Westcott  »  Stier. 


»•  iSS7.]        JESUS  LIFE-GIVER  AND  JUDGE.  aoi 

He  makes  to  men  constitute  the  critical  test  of  every 
soul  that  is  brought  into  contact  with  them.  Judgment 
is  the  necessary  accompaniment  of  salvation.  Man's 
will  being  free,  it  must  be  so.  And  this  judgment, 
determined  in  this  life,  will  one  day  appear  in  final, 
irreversible,  manifested  result.  "  The  hour  is  coming, 
in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  His 
voice,  and  shall  come  forth  ;  they  that  have  done  good, 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done 
evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation." 

3.  But  naturally  the  Jews  would  say:  "These  are 
extraordinary  and  apparently  extravagant  claims  to 
make.  It  is  not  easily  credible  that  this  voice  which 
now  so  quietly  speaks  to  us  is  one  day  to  wake  the 
dead.  It  is  not  easily  credible  that  one  whom  we  can 
carry  before  our  courts  is  to  judge  all  men."  To  which 
thoughts  Jesus  replies  :  "  I  do  not  expect  you  to  take 
My  word  for  these  things,  but  there  are  three  guarantees 
of  My  truth  to  which  I  point  you.  There  is  first  of  all 
(i)  the  testimony  of  John* — a  man  in  whose  prophetic 
gift  you  for  a  while  prided  yourselves,  rejoicing  that 
God  had  sent  you  so  powerful  and  enlightening  a  mes- 
senger. His  whole  function  was  to  testify  of  Me. 
This  lamp,  in  the  light  of  which  you  rejoiced,  was  lit 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  making  quite  visible  to  you 
that  which  you  now  say  you  cannot  see.  But  this  is 
not  the  best  witness  I  have,  although  those  of  you  who 
cannot  see  for  themselves  might  be  saved  if  only  you 
would  believe  John's  testimony.  But  (2)  I  have  greater 
witness  than  that  of  John.     John  said  that  I  should 

'  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  ver.  32  refers  to  John.  I  think  it  refers 
fo  the  Father.  Still  Jesus,  in  w.  33-35,  refers  the  Jews  to  the  testi- 
mony of  John,  although  for  His  own  part  He  depends  on  higher 
testimony. 


903  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

come  as  the  Father's  agent.  Well,  if  you  cannot  believe 
John's  words,  can  you  not  believe  the  things  you  see  ? 
This  impotent  man  raised  to  health,  is  this  not  a  little 
hint  of  the  Divine  power  that  is  in  your  midst  ?  And 
are  not  all  the  works  I  do  the  Father's  works,  done 
by  His  power  and  for  His  purposes  ?  Is  not  My 
whole  career  its  own  best  evidence?  But  besides, 
(3)  the  Father  Himself  has  borne  witness  to  Me.  He 
has  not  appeared  to  you.  You  have  not  heard  His 
voice  nor  seen  His  shape,  but  His  word,  His  own 
sufficient  account  of  His  nature  and  connection  with 
you,  you  have.  You  search  the  Scriptures,  and  rightly, 
for  they  are  they  which  testify  of  Me.  They  are  the 
Father's  word  which,  had  you  listened  to,  you  would 
have  known  Me  as  sent  by  Him.  Had  you  not 
mumbled  only  the  husk  of  Scripture,  counting  its 
letters  and  wearing  it  on  your  foreheads,  but  had 
you,  through  God's  law,  entered  into  sympathy  with 
His  purpose  on  earth,  had  you,  through  all  that  Scrip- 
ture tells  you  of  Him,  learned  His  nature,  and  learned 
to  love  Him,  you  would  at  once  have  recognised  Me  as 
His  messenger.  "  Ye  have  not  His  word  abiding  in 
you ; "  ye  have  not  let  it  lie  in  your  minds  and  colour 
thera  ;  ye  have  not  chewed,  and  digested,  and  assimilated 
the  very  quintessence  of  it,  for  had  you  done  so  you 
would  have  learned  to  know  God  and  seen  Him  in 
Me.*  But  "  whom  He  sent.  Him  ye  beheve  not." 
The  very  Scriptures  which  had  been  given  to  guide 


'  The  same  idea  is  resumed  in  tv.  45-47.  If  you  have  not  under- 
stood the  writings  of  Moses  which  you  have  heard  from  Sabbath  to 
Sabbath,  and  have  not  received  the  knowledge  of  God  they  were 
meant  to  give  you,  how  shall  ye  believe  the  once  heard  words  of  Him 
whose  coming  was  meant  to  be  prepared  for,  and  His  identification 
made  easy  by  all  that  Moses  wrote  and  by  the  institutions  he  established 


▼•  »5-47.]        J£SUS  LlfE-GlVER  AND  JUDGE,  toi 

them  to  Christ  they  used  as  a  veil  to  blind  themselves 
to  His  presence.  Jesus  points  out  where  their  mistake 
lay.  "You  search  the  Scriptures,  because  you  suppose 
that  in  them,  a  mere  book,  you  have  eternal  life ;  the 
truth  being  that  life  is  in  Me.  The  Scriptures  do  not 
give  life,  they  lead  to  the  Life-giver.  The  Scriptures, 
by  your  superstitiously  reverent  and  shallow  use  of 
them,  actually  prevent  you  from  finding  the  life  they 
were  meant  to  point  you  to.  You  think  you  have  life 
in  them,  and  therefore  will  not  come  to  Me."  So  may 
a  book,  lifted  out  of  its  subordinate  place,  be  entirely 
perverted  from  its  use,  and  actually  hinder  the  purpose 
it  was  given  to  promote.  To  worship  the  Bible  as  if 
it  were  Christ  is  to  mistake  a  finger-post  for  a  house 
of  shelter.  It  is  possible  to  have  a  great  zeal  for  the 
Bible  and  yet  quite  to  misapprehend  its  object ;  and  to 
misapprehend  its  object  is  to  make  it  both  useless 
and  dangerous.  To  set  it  on  a  level  with  Christ  is  to 
do  both  it,  Him,  and  ourselves  the  gravest  injustice. 
Many  who  seem  to  exalt  the  Scriptures  degrade  them ; 
and  those  who  give  them  a  subordinate  .place  truly 
exalt  them.  God  speaks  in  Scripture,  as  this  passage 
shows,  but  He  speaks  for  a  definite  purpose,  to  reveal 
Christ ;  and  this  fact  is  the  key  to  all  difficulties  about 
the  Bible  and  inspiration. 

4.  The  unbelief  of  the  Jews  is  traced  by  Jesus  to 
a  moral  root.  They  seemed  very  zealous  for  God's 
law,  but  beneath  this  superficial  and  ostentatious 
championing  of  God  there  was  detected  a  deep-seated 
alienation  from  God  which  unfitted  them  for  know- 
ing either  Him  or  His  messenger.  "  Glory  from  men 
I  do  not  receive  (ver.  41).  But  the  reason  of  this  is 
that  ye  have  not  the  love  of  God  in  you,  and  cannot 
appreciate  Divine  glory  or  recognise  it  when  you  see 


204  THE  GOSPEL   OF  ST.  JOHN. 

it.  How  can  you  believe,  when  your  hearts  crave 
the  glory  you  can  give  to  one  another,  your  ambition 
rising  no  higher  than  to  be  spoken  of  by  ignorant 
people  as  the  upholders  of  religion  ?  You  have  taught 
yourselves  to  measure  men  by  a  wholly  spurious 
standard,  and  cannot  believe  in  one  who  is  a  trans- 
parency through  which  the  glory  of  God  shines  upon 
you."  Had  some  one  come  in  his  own  name,  seeking 
a  glory  the  Jews  could  give  him,  adapting  himself 
to  their  poor  conceptions,  him  they  would  have 
received.  But  Jesus  being  sent  by  God  had  that  glory 
which  consisted  in  being  a  perfect  medium  of  the 
Father's  will,  doing  the  Father's  work  and  never 
seeking  His  own  glory. 

This,  then,  was  the  reason  why  the  Jews  could  not 
believe  in  Jesus.  Their  idea  of  glory  was  earthly,  and 
they  were  unfitted  to  see  and  appreciate  such  glory  as 
He  showed  in  deeds  of  kindness.  And  those  sayings 
of  Jesus  penetrate  deeply  into  the  permanent  roots  of 
unbelief. 

It  was  certainly  a  great  demand  on  their  faith 
which  Jesus  made.  He  asked  them  to  believe  that  the 
most  Divine  of  prerogatives,  life-giving  and  judging, 
belonged  to  Him.  But  He  gave  them  evidence.  He 
only  asks  them  to  believe  what  they  have  seen 
exemplified.  He  does  not  as  yet  even  ask  them  to 
draw  inferences.  He  does  not  blame  them  for  not 
seeing  what  is  implied  regarding  His  eternal  relation 
to  the  Father.  He  adduces  evidence  "  that  they  may 
be  saved ; "  that  they  may  be  induced  to  partake  of 
the  life  He  dispenses ;  and  He  laments  that  they  will 
not  believe  that  He  is  commissioned  by  God  to  speak 
words  of  Hfe  to  men,  although  He  has  given  them 
demonstration  of  His  commission  and  power  to  give  life. 


V- 15-47]        JESUS  UFE-GIVER  AND  JUDGE.  205 

To  us  also  He  speaks — for  plainly  such  powers 
as  He  here  claims  are  not  such  as  can  be  capriciously 
given  and  withdrawn,  rendered  accessible  to  one  age 
but  not  to  another,  exhibited  on  earth  once  but  never 
more  to  be  exercised.  They  are  not  powers  that  could 
be  given  to  more  than  one  messenger  of  God.  To 
suppose  more  than  one  source  of  spiritual  life  or  more 
than  one  seat  of  judgment  is  against  reason. 


XIV. 

JESUS  THE  BREAD  OF  UFK. 


John  vi.  1-59. 


208 


XIV. 

rSSUS    THE    BREAD   OF  UFB. 

IN  this  chapter  John  follows  the  same  method  as  In 
the  last.  He  first  relates  the  sign,  and  then  gives 
our  Lord's  interpretation  of  it  As  to  the  Samaritan 
woman,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  so  now 
to  the  Galileans,  Jesus  manifests  Himself  as  sent  to 
communicate  to  man  life  eternal.  The  sign  by  means 
of  which  He  now  manifests  Himself  is,  however,  so 
new  that  many  fresh  aspects  of  His  own  person  and 
work  are  disclosed.* 

The  occasion  for  the  miracle  arose,  as  usual,  quite 
simply.  Jesus  had  retired  to  the  east  side  of  the  sea 
of  Tiberias,  probably  to  a  spot  near  Bethsaida  Julian, 
that  He  might  have  some  rest.  But  the  people,  eager 
to  see  more  miracles,  followed  Him  round  the  head  of 
the  lake,  and,  as  they  went,  their  number  was  augmented 
by  members  of  a  Passover  caravan  which  was  forming 
in  the  neighbourhood  or  was  already  on  the  march. 
This  inconsiderate  pursuit  of  Jesus,  instead  of  offend- 
ing Him,  touched  Him  ;  and  as  He  marked  them  toiling 
up  the  hill  in  groups,  or  one  by  one,  some  quite  spent 
with  a  long  and  rapid  walk,  mothers  dragging  hungry 

'  At  the  risk  of  omitting  points  of  interest,  I  h&ve  thought  it  advisable 
to  treat  this  whole  representation  of  Christ,  as  £ar  as  possible,  within 
the  limits  of  odc  chapter. 

*»  U 


aw  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

children  after  them,  His  first  thought  was,  What  can 
these  poor  tired  people  get  to  refresh  them  here  ?  He 
turns  therefore  to  Philip  with  the  question,  "  Whence 
are  we  to  buy  bread  that  these  may  eat  ? "  This  he 
said,  John  tells  us,  "  to  prove "  or  test  Philip.  Ap- 
parently this  disciple  was  a  shrewd  business  man, 
quick  to  calculate  ways  and  means,  and  rather  apt  to 
scorn  the  expectations  of  faith.  Every  man  must  rid 
himself  of  the  defects  of  his  qualities.  And  Jesus  now 
gave  Philip  an  opportunity  to  overcome  his  weakness- 
in-strength  by  at  last  boldly  confessing  his  inability 
and  the  Lord's  ability, — by  saying,  We  have  neither 
meat  nor  money,  but  we  have  Thee.  But  Philip,  like 
many  another,  missed  his  opportunity,  and,  wholly 
oblivious  of  the  resources  of  Jesus,  casts  His  eye 
rapidly  over  the  crowd  and  estimates  that  "two 
hundred  pennyworth  "  *  of  bread  would  scarcely  suffice 
to  give  each  enough  to  stay  immediate  cravings.  Philip's 
friend  Andrew  as  little  as  himself  divines  the  intention 
of  Jesus,  and  naively  suggests  that  the  whole  provision 
he  can  hear  of  in  the  crowd  is  a  little  boy's  five  loaves 
and  two  fishes.  These  helpless,  meagrely  furnished 
and  meagrely  conceiving  disciples,  meagre  in  food  and 
meagre  in  faith,  are  set  in  contrast  to  the  calm  faith 
and  infinite  resource  of  Jesus. 

The  moral  ground  being  thus  prepared  for  the  miracle 
in  the  confessed  inability  of  the  disciples  and  of  the 
crowd,  Jesus  takes  the  matter  in  hand.  With  that  air 
of  authority  and  calm  purpose  which  must  have  im- 
pressed the  onlookers  at  all  His  miracles,  He  says, 
"  Make  the  men  sit  down."  And  there  where  they 
happened  to  be,  and  without  further  preparation,  on  a 

•  Roughly  speaking,  j^ 


iLl  JESUS  THE  BREAD  OF  UFE.  til 

grassy  spot  near  the  left  bank  of  the  Jordan,  and  just 
where  the  river  flows  into  the  lake  of  Galilee,  with  the 
evening  sun  sinking  behind  the  hills  on  the  western 
shore  and  the  shadows  lying  across  the  darkened  lake, 
the  multitude  break  up  into  groups  of  hundreds  and 
fifties,  and  seat  themselves  in  perfect  confidence  that 
somehow  food  is  to  be  furnished.  They  seat  them- 
selves as  those  who  expect  a  full  meal,  and  not  a  mere 
snack  they  could  eat  standing,  though  where  the  full 
meal  was  to  come  from  who  could  tell  ?  This  expecta- 
tion must  have  deepened  into  faith  as  the  thousands 
listened  to  their  Host  giving  thanks  over  the  scanty 
provision.  One  would  fain  have  heard  the  words  in 
which  Jesus  addressed  the  Father,  and  by  which  He 
caused  all  to  feel  how  near  to  each  was  infinite  resource. 
And  then,  as  He  proceeded  to  distribute  the  ever- 
multiplying  food,  the  first  awe-struck  silence  of  the 
multitude  gave  way  to  exclamations  of  surprise  and  to 
excited  and  delighted  comments.  The  little  lad,  as  he 
watched  with  widening  eyes  his  two  fishes  doing  the 
work  of  two  thousand,  would  feel  himself  a  person  of 
consequence,  and  that  he  had  a  story  to  tell  when  he 
went  back  to  his  home  on  the  beach.  And  ever  and 
anon,  as  our  Lord  stood  with  a  smile  on  His  face  en- 
joying the  con;^  enial  scene,  the  children  from  the  nearest 
groups  would  steal  to  His  side,  to  get  their  supplies 
from  His  own  hand. 

I.  Before  touching  upon  the  points  in  this  sign 
emphasised  by  our  Lord  Himself,  it  is  perhaps  legiti- 
mate to  indicate  one  or  two  others.  And  among  these 
it  may  first  of  all  be  remarked  that  our  Lord  sometimes, 
as  here,  gives  not  medicine  but  food.  He  not  only 
heals,  but  prevents  disease.  And  however  valuable  the 
one    blessing   is — the   blessing  of  being   healed — the 


sit  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

other  is  even  greater.  The  weakness  of  starvation 
exposes  men  to  every  form  of  disease ;  it  is  a  lowered 
vitality  which  gives  disease  its  opportunity.  In  the 
spiritual  life  it  is  the  same.  The  preservative  against 
any  definite  form  of  sin  is  a  strong  spiritual  life,  a 
healthy  condition  not  easily  fatigued  in  duty,  and  not 
easily  overcome  by  temptation.  Perhaps  the  gospel 
has  come  to  be  looked  upon  too  exclusively  as  a 
remedial  scheme,  and  too  little  as  the  means  of  main- 
taining spiritual  health.  So  marked  is  its  efficacy  in 
reclaiming  the  vicious,  that  its  efficacy  as  the  sole  con- 
dition of  healthy  human  life  is  apt  to  be  overlooked. 
Christ  is  needful  to  us  not  only  as  sinners ;  He  is 
needful  to  us  as  men.  Without  Him  human  life  lacks 
the  element  which  gives  reality,  meaning,  and  zest 
to  the  whole.  Even  to  those  who  have  little  present 
sense  of  sin  He  has  much  to  ofifer.  A  sense  of  sin 
grows  with  the  general  growth  of  the  Christian  life ; 
and  that  at  first  it  should  be  small  need  not  surprise 
us.  But  the  present  absence  of  a  profound  sorrow  for 
sin  is  not  to  bar  our  approach  to  Christ.  To  the 
impotent  man,  conscious  of  his  living  death,  Christ 
offered  a  life  that  healed  and  strengthened — healed 
by  strengthening.  But  equally  to  those  who  now  con- 
versed with  Him,  and  who,  conscious  of  life,  asked  Him 
how  they  might  work  the  work  of  God,  He  gave  the 
same  direction,  that  they  must  believe  in  Him  as  their 
life. 

2.  Our  Lord  here  supplied  the  same  plain  food 
to  alL 

In  the  crowd  were  men,  women,  and  children,  old 
and  young,  hard  working-peasants,  shepherds  from  the 
hillside,  and  fishermen  from  the  lake,  as  well  as  traders 
and    scribes   from    the   towns.     No   doubt   it   elicited 


vL]  JESUS   THE  BREAD  OF  UFE  113 


remark  that  fare  so  simple  should  be  acceptable  to  all. 
Had  the  feast  been  given  by  a  banqueting  Pharisee,  a 
variety  of  tastes  would  have  been  provided  for.  Here 
the  guests  were  divided  into  groups  merely  for  con- 
venience of  distribution,  not  for  distinction  of  tastes. 
There  are  few  things  which  are  not  more  the  necessity 
of  one  class  of  men  than  of  another,  or  that  while 
devotedly  pursued  by  one  nation  are  not  despised 
across  the  frontier,  or  that  do  not  become  antiquated 
and  obsolete  in  this  century  though  considered  essential 
in  the  last.  But  among  these  few  things  is  the  pro- 
vision Christ  makes  for  our  spiritual  well-being.  It  is 
like  the  supply  of  our  deep  natural  desires  and  common 
appetites,  in  which  men  resemble  one  another  from 
age  to  age,  and  by  which  they  recognise  their  common 
humanity.  All  the  world  round,  you  may  find  wells 
whose  water  you  could  not  say  was  different  from  what 
you  daily  use,  at  any  rate  they  quench  your  thirst  as 
well.  You  could  not  tell  what  country  you  were  in 
nor  what  age  by  the  taste  of  the  water  from  a  living 
well.  And  so  what  God  has  provided  for  our  spiritual 
life  bears  in  it  no  peculiarities  of  time  or  place;  it 
addresses  itself  with  equal  power  to  the  European  of 
to-day  as  it  did  to  the  Asiatic  during  our  Lord's  own 
lifetime.  Men  have  settled  down  by  hundreds  and  by 
fifties,  they  are  grouped  according  to  various  natures 
and  tastes,  but  to  all  alike  is  this  one  food  presented. 
And  this,  because  the  want  it  supplies  is  not  fictitious, 
but  as  natural  and  veritable  a  want  as  is  indicated  by 
hunger  or  thirst. 

We  must  beware  then  of  looking  with  repugnance 
on  what  Christ  calls  us  to,  as  if  it  were  a  superfluity 
that  may  reasonably  be  postponed  to  more  urgent  and 
essential  demands ;  or  as  if  He  were  introducing  our 


SI4  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

nature  to  some  region  for  which  it  was  not  originally 
intended,  and  exciting  within  us  spurious  and  fanciful 
desires  which  are  really  alien  to  us  as  human  beings. 
This  is  a  common  thought.  It  is  a  common  thought 
that  religion  is  not  an  essential  but  a  luxury.  But  in 
point  of  fact  all  that  Christ  calls  us  to,  perfect  reconcile- 
ment with  God,  devoted  service  of  His  will,  purity  of 
character, — these  are  the  essentials  for  us,  so  that 
until  we  attain  them  we  have  not  begun  to  live,  but  are 
merely  nibbling  at  the  very  gate  of  life.  God,  in  inviting 
us  to  these  things,  is  not  putting  a  strain  on  our  nature 
it  can  never  bear.  He  is  proposing  to  impart  new 
strength  and  joy  to  our  nature.  He  is  not  summoning 
us  to  a  joy  that  is  too  high  for  us,  and  that  we  can 
never  rejoice  in,  but  is  recalling  us  to  that  condition 
in  which  alone  we  can  live  with  comfort  and  health, 
and  in  which  alone  we  can  permanently  delight.  If  we 
cannot  now  desire  what  Christ  offers,  if  we  have  no 
appetite  for  it,  if  all  that  He  speaks  of  seems  uninviting 
and  dreary,  then  this  is  symptomatic  of  a  fatal  loss  of 
appetite  on  our  part  But  as  Jesus  would  have  felt 
a  deeper  compassion  for  any  in  that  crowd  who  were 
too  faint  to  eat,  or  as  He  would  quickly  have  laid  His 
healing  hand  on  any  diseased  person  who  could  not  eat, 
so  does  He  still  more  deeply  compassionate  all  of  us 
who  would  fain  eat  and  drink  with  His  people,  and  yet 
nauseate  and  turn  from  their  delights  as  the  sickly 
from  the  strong  food  of  the  healthy. 

3.  But  what  Jesus  especially  emphasises  in  the  con- 
versation arising  out  of  the  miracle  is  that  the  food  He 
gives  is  Himself.  He  is  the  Bread  of  Life,  the  Living 
Bread.  What  is  there  in  Christ  which  constitutes  Him 
the  Bread  of  Life  ?  There  is,  first  of  all,  that  which 
He  Himself  constantly  presses,  that  He  is  sent  by  the 


▼i.]  JESUS   THE  BREAD  OF  LIFE.  «IS 

Father,  that  He  comes  out  of  heaven,  bringing  from 
the  Father  a  new  source  of  life  into  the  world. 

When  our  Lord  pointed  out  to  the  Galileans  that  the 
work  of  God  was  to  believe  in  Him,  they  demanded  a 
further  sign  as  evidence  that  He  was  God's  Messenger : 
"  What  sign  doest  Thou  that  we  may  see  and  believe 
Thee  ?  What  dost  Thou  work  ?  Our  fathers  did  eat 
manna  in  the  desert ;  they  had  bread  from  heaven,  not 
common  barley  loaves  such  as  we  got  from  You  yester- 
day. Have  You  any  such  sign  as  this  to  give  ?  If  You 
are  sent  from  God,  we  may  surely  expect  you  to  rival 
Moses."  *  To  which  Jesus  replies  :  "  The  bread  which 
your  fathers  received  did  not  prevent  them  dying ;  it 
was  meant  to  sustain  physical  life,  and  yet  even  in  that 
respect  it  was  not  perfect.  God  has  a  better  bread  to 
give,  a  bread  which  will  sustain  you  in  spiritual  life, 
not  for  a  few  years  but  for  ever  "  (vv.  49,  50).  "  I  am 
the  living  bread  which  came  down  out  of  heaven  :  if 
any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  for  ever." 

This  they  could  not  understand.  They  believed  that 
the  manna  came  from  heaven.  Not  the  richest  field  ot 
Egypt  had  produced  it.  It  seemed  to  come  direct  from 
God's  hand.  The  Israelites  could  neither  raise  it  nor 
improve  upon  it.  But  how  Jesus,  "  whose  father  and 
mother  we  know,"  whom  they  could  trace  to  a  definite 
human  origin,  could  say  that  He  came  from  heaven 
they  could  not  understand.  And  yet,  even  while  they 
stumbled  at  His  claim  to  a  superhuman  origin,  they 
felt  there  might  be  something  in  it.  Everyone  with 
whom  He  came  in  contact  felt  there  was  in  Him  some- 
thing unaccountable.  The  Pharisees  feared  while  they 
hated  Him.     Pilate  could  not  classify  Him  with   any 

'  From  Psalm  Ixxii.  16  the  Rabbis  gathered  that  the  Messiah  when 
He  came  would  renew  the  gift  of  manna. 


2l6  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


variety  of  off  nder  he  had  met  with.  Why  do  men 
still  continuajly  attempt  afresh  to  account  for  Him,  and 
to  give  at  last  a  perfectly  satisfactory  explanation,  or.' 
ordinary  principles,  of  all  that  He  was  and  did  ?  Why, 
but  because  it  is  seen  that  as  yet  He  has  not  been  so 
accounted  for  ?  Men  do  not  thus  strive  to  prove  that 
Shakespeare  was  a  mere  man,  or  that  Socrates  oi 
Epictetus  was  a  mere  man.  Alas !  that  is  only  too 
obvious.  But  to  Christ  men  turn  and  turn  again  with 
the  feeling  that  here  is  something  vhich  human  nature 
does  not  account  for;  something  different,  and  some- 
thing more  than  what  results  from  human  parentage 
and  human  environment,  something  which  He  Himself 
accounts  for  b}'  the  plain  and  unflinching  statement 
ihat  He  is  "  from  heaven." 

For  my  part,  I  do  not  see  that  this  can  mean  any- 
thing less  than  that  Christ  is  Divine,  that  in  Him  we 
have  God,  and  in  Him  touch  the  actual  Source  of  all 
life.  In  Him  we  have  the  one  thing  within  our  reach 
whicl^i  is  not  earth-grown,  the  one  uncorrupted  Source 
of  life  to  which  we  can  turn  from  the  inadequacy, 
impurity,  and  emptiness  of  a  sin-sick  world.  No 
pebble  lies  hid  in  this  bread  on  v/hich  we  can  break 
our  teeth ;  no  svv'eetness  in  the  mouth  turning  after- 
wards to  bitterness,  but  a  new,  uncontaminated  food, 
prepared  independently  of  all  defiling  influences,  and 
accessible  to  all.  Christ  is  the  Bread  from  heaven, 
because  in  Christ  God  gives  Himself  to  us,  that  by  His 
life  we  may  live. 

There  is  another  sense  in  which  Christ  probably 
used  the  word  "  living."  In  contrast  to  the  dead  bread 
He  had  given  them  He  was  alive.  The  same  law 
seems  to  hold  good  of  our  physical  and  of  our  spiritual 
life.     We  cannot  sustain  physical  life  except  by  using 


vtj  JESUS   THE  BREAD  OF  UFE.  Mtf 

as  food  that  which  has  been  alive.  The  nutritive 
properties  of  the  earth  and  the  air  must  have  been 
assimilated  for  us  by  living  plants  and  animals  before 
we  can  use  them.  The  plant  sucks  sustenance  out  of 
the  earth — we  can  live  upon  the  plant  but  not  on  the 
earth.  The  ox  finds  ample  nourishment  in  grass;  we 
can  live  on  the  ox  but  not  on  the  grass.  And  so  with 
spiritual  nutriment.  Abstract  truth  we  can  make  little 
of  at  first  hand ;  it  needs  to  be  embodied  in  a  living 
form  before  we  can  live  upon  it.  Even  God  is  remote 
and  abstract,  and  non-Christian  theism  makes  thin- 
blooded  and  spectral  worshippers ;  it  is  when  the 
Word  becomes  flesh ;  when  the  hidden  reason  of  all 
things  takes  human  form  and  steps  out  on  the  earth 
before  us,  that  truth  becomes  nutritive,  and  God  our 
life. 

4.  Still  more  explicitly  Christ  says:  "The  bread 
which  I  will  give  is  My  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the 
life  of  the  world."  For  it  is  in  this  great  act  of  dying 
that  He  becomes  the  Bread  of  Life.  God  sharing  with 
us  to  the  uttermost ;  God  proving  that  His  will  is  our 
righteousness ;  God  bearing  our  sorrows  and  our  sins ; 
God  coming  into  our  human  race,  and  becoming  a  part 
of  its  history — all  this  is  seen  in  the  cross  of  Christ ; 
but  it  is  also  seen  that  absolute  love  for  men,  and 
absolute  submission  to  God,  were  the  moving  forces  of 
Christ's  life.  He  was  obedient  even  unto  death.  This 
was  Hts  life,  and  by  the  cross  He  made  it  ours.  The 
cross  subdues  our  hearts  to  Him,  and  gives  us  to  feel 
that  self-sacrifice  is  the  true  life  of  man. 

A  man  in  a  sickly  state  of  body  has  sometimes  to 
make  it  matter  of  consideration,  or  even  of  consultation, 
what  he  shall  eat.  Were  anyone  to  take  the  same 
thought   about    his  spiritual  condition,    and    seriously 


2l8  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

ponder  what  would  bring  health  to  his  spirit,  what 
would  rid  it  of  distaste  for  what  is  right,  and  give  it 
strength  and  purity  to  delight  in  God  and  in  all  good, 
he  would  probably  conclude  that  a  clear  and  influential 
exhibition  of  God's  goodness,  and  of  the  fatal  effects  of 
sin,  a  convincing  exhibition,  an  exhibition  in  real  life, 
of  the  unutterable  hatefulness  of  sin,  and  inconceivable 
desirableiiCss  of  God ;  an  exhibition  also  which  should 
at  the  same  time  open  for  us  a  way  from  sin  to  God — 
this,  the  inquirer  would  conclude,  would  bring  life  to  the 
spirit  It  is  such  an  exhibition  of  God  and  of  sin,  and 
such  a  way  out  of  sin  to  God,  as  we  have  in  Christ's  death. 
5.  How  are  we  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  life  that  is  in 
Christ?  As  the  Jevvs  asked.  How  can  this  man  give 
us  His  flesh  to  eat  ?  Our  Lord  Himself  uses  several 
terms  to  express  the  act  by  which  we  make  use  of 
Him  as  the  Bread  of  Life.  "  He  that  believeth  on  Me," 
"  He  that  cometh  to  Me,"  "  He  that  eateth  My  flesh 
and  drinketh  My  blood,  hath  eternal  life."  Each  of 
these  expressions  has  its  own  significance.  Belief 
must  come  first — belief  that  Christ  is  sent  to  give  us 
life ;  behef  that  it  depends  upon  our  connection  with 
that  one  Person  whether  we  shall  or  shall  not  have  life 
eternal.  We  must  also  "  come  to  Him."  The  people 
He  was  addressing  had  followed  Him  for  miles,  and 
had  found  Him  and  were  speaking  to  Him,  but  they 
had  not  come  to  Him.  To  come  to  Him  is  to  approach 
Him  in  spirit  and  with  submissive  trust ;  it  is  to  com- 
mit ourselves  to  Him  as  our  Lord ;  it  is  to  rest  in  Him 
as  our  all ;  it  is  to  come  to  Him  with  open  heart, 
accepting  Him  as  all  He  claims  to  be  ;  it  is  to  meet 
the  eye  of  a  present,  living  Christ,  who  knows  what  is 
in  man,  and  to  say  to  Him  "I  am  Thine,  Thine  most 
gladly,  Thine  for  evermore." 


vtj  JESUS  THE  BREAD  OF  UFE.  •19 

But  most  emphatically  of  all  does  our  Lord  say  that 
we  must  "  eat  His  flesh  and  drink  His  blood "  if  we 
are  to  partake  of  His  life.  That  is  to  say,  the  connec- 
tion between  Christ  and  us  must  be  of  the  closest 
possible  kind ;  so  close  that  the  assimilation  of  the 
food  we  eat  is  not  too  strong  a  figure  to  express  it. 
The  food  we  eat  becomes  our  blood  and  flesh ;  it 
becomes  our  life,  our  self.  And  it  does  so  by  our 
eating  it,  not  by  our  talking  of  it,  not  by  our  looking 
at  it,  and  admiring  its  nutritive  properties,  but  only 
by  eating  it.  And  whatever  process  can  make  Christ 
entirely  ours,  and  help  us  to  assimilate  all  that  is  in 
Him,  this  process  we  are  to  use.  The  flesh  of  Christ 
was  given  for  us ;  by  the  shedding  of  Christ's  blood, 
by  the  pouring  out  of  His  life  upon  the  cross,  spiritual 
life  was  prepared  for  us.  Cleansing  from  sin  and 
restoration  to  God  were  provided  by  the  offering  of 
His  life  in  the  flesh  ;  and  we  eat  His  flesh  when  we 
use  in  our  own  behalf  the  death  of  Christ,  and  take 
the  blessings  it  has  made  possible  to  us ;  when  we 
accept  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  enter  into  the  love  of 
God,  and  adopt  as  our  own  the  spirit  of  the  cross. 
His  flesh  or  human  form  was  the  manifestation  of  God's 
love  for  us,  the  visible  material  of  His  sacrifice ;  and 
we  eat  His  flesh  when  we  make  this  our  own,  when 
we  accept  God's  love  and  adopt  Christ's  sacrifice  as  our 
guiding  principle  of  life.  We  eat  His  flesh  when  we 
take  out  of  His  life  and  death  the  spiritual  nutriment  that 
is  actually  there;  when  we  let  our  nature  be  penetrated 
by  the  spirit  of  the  cross,  and  actually  make  Christ  the 
Source  and  the  Guide  of  our  spiritual  life. 

This  figure  of  eating  has  many  lessons  for  us.  Above 
all,  it  reminds  us  of  the  poor  appetite  we  have  for 
spiritual  nourishment.     How  thoroughly  by  this  pro- 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


cess  of  eating  does  the  healthy  body  extract  from  its 
food  every  particle  of  real  nutriment.  By  this  process 
the  food  is  made  to  yield  all  that  it  contains  of  nourish- 
ing substance.  But  how  far  is  this  from  representing 
our  treatment  of  Christ.  How  much  is  there  in  Him 
that  is  fitted  to  yield  comfort  and  hope,  and  yet  to  us 
it  3'ields  none.  How  much  that  should  fill  us  with 
assurance  of  God's  love,  yet  how  fearfully  we  live. 
How  much  to  make  us  admire  self-sacrifice  and  fill  us 
with  earnest  purpose  to  live  for  others,  and  yet  how 
little  of  this  becomes  in  very  deed  our  life.  God  sees 
in  Him  all  that  can  make  us  complete,  all  that  can  fill 
and  gladden  and  suffice  the  soul,  and  yet  how  bare 
and  troubled  and  defeated  do  we  live.* 

6.  The  mode  of  distribution  was  also  significant. 
Christ  gives  life  to  the  world  not  directly,  but  through 
His  disciples.  The  life  He  gives  is  Himself,  but  He 
gives  it  through  the  instrumentality  of  men.  The 
bread  is  His.  The  disciples  may  manipulate  it  as  they 
will,  but  it  remains  five  loaves  only.  None  but  He 
can  relieve  the  famishing  multitude.  Still  not  with 
His  own  hands  does  He  feed  them,  but  through  the 
believing  service  of  the  Twelve.  And  this  He  did  not 
merely  for  the  sake  of  teaching  us  that  only  through 
the  Church  is  the  world  supplied  with  the  life  He 
furnishes,  but  primarily  because  it  was  the  natural  and 
fit  order  then,  as  it  is  the  natural  and  fit  order  now, 

'  The  figure  of  eating  reminds  us  that  the  acceptance  of  Christ  is  an 
act  which  each  man  must  do  for  himself.  No  other  man  can  eat  for 
me.  It  also  reminds  us  that  as  the  food  we  eat  is  distributed,  without 
our  own  will  or  supervision,  to  every  part  of  the  body,  giving  light  to 
the  eye  and  strength  to  the  arm,  making  bone  or  skin  in  one  place, 
nerve  or  blood-vessel  in  another,  so,  if  only  we  make  Christ  our  own, 
the  life  that  is  in  Him  suffices  for  all  the  requirements  of  human  nature 
and  human  duty. 


wL}  JESUS  THE  BREAD  OF  UFE.  sai 

that  they  who  themselves  believe  in  the  power  of  the 
Lord  to  feed  the  world  should  be  the  means  of  dis- 
tributing what  He  gives.  Each  of  the  disciples  received 
from  the  Lord  no  more  than  would  satisfy  himself,  yet 
held  in  his  hand  what  would  through  the  Lord's  bless- 
ing satisfy  a  hundred  besides.  And  it  is  a  grave  truth 
we  here  meet,  that  every  one  of  us  who  has  received 
life  from  Christ  has  thereby  in  possession  what  may 
give  life  to  many  other  human  souls.  We  may  give  it 
or  we  may  withhold  it ;  we  may  communicate  it  to  the 
famishing  souls  around  us  or  we  may  hear  unconcerned 
the  weary  heart-faint  sigh  ;  but  the  Lord  knows  to  whom 
He  has  given  the  bread  of  life,  and  He  gives  it  not 
solely  for  our  own  consumption  but  for  distribution. 
It  is  not  the  privilege  of  the  more  enlightened  or  more 
fervent  disciple,  but  of  all.  He  who  receives  from  the 
Lord  what  is  enough  for  himself  holds  the  lives  of 
some  of  his  fellows  in  his  hand. 

Doubtless  the  faith  of  the  disciples  was  severely 
tried  when  they  were  required  to  advance  each  man 
to  his  separate  hundred  with  his  morsel  of  bread. 
There  would  be  no  struggling  for  the  first  place  then. 
But  encouraged  in  their  faith  by  the  simple  and  con- 
fident words  of  prayer  their  Master  had  addressed  to 
the  Father,  they  are  emboldened  to  do  His  bidding, 
and  if  they  gave  sparingly  and  cautiously  at  first,  their 
parsimony  must  soon  have  been  rebuked  and  their 
hearts  enlarged. 

Theirs  is  also  our  trial.  We  know  we  should  be 
more  helpful  to  others ;  but  in  presence  of  the  sorrowful 
we  seem  to  have  no  word  of  comfort ;  seeing  this  man 
and  that  pursuing  a  way  the  end  of  which  is  death, 
we  have  yet  no  wise  word  of  remonstrance,  no  loving 
entreaty ;   lives  are  trifled  away  at  our  side,  and  we 


29S  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

are  conscious  of  no  ability  to  elevate  and  dignify ;  lives 
are  worn  out  in  crushing  toil  and  misery,  and  we  feel 
helpless  to  aid.  The  habit  grows  upon  us  of  expecting 
rather  to  get  good  than  to  do  good.  We  have  long 
recognised  that  we  are  too  little  influenced  by  God's 
grace,  and  only  at  long  intervals  now  are  we  ashamed 
of  this ;  it  has  become  our  acknowledged  state.  We 
have  found  that  we  are  not  the  kind  of  people  who 
are  to  influence  others.  Looking  at  our  slim  faith, 
our  stunted  character,  our  slender  knowledge,  we  say, 
"  What  is  this  among  so  many  ?  "  These  feelings  are 
inevitable.  No  man  seems  to  have  enough  even  for 
his  own  soul.  But  giving  of  what  he  has  to  others 
he  will  find  his  own  store  increased.  "  There  is  that 
scattereth  abroad  and  yet  increaseth,"  is  the  law  of 
spiritual  growth 

But  the  thought  which  shines  through  all  others  as 
we  read  this  narrative  is  the  genial  tenderness  of  Christ. 
He  is  here  seen  to  be  considerate  of  our  wants,  mind- 
ful of  our  weaknesses,  quick  to  calculate  our  prospects 
and  to  provide  for  us,  simple,  practical,  earnest  in  His 
love.  We  see  here  how  He  withholds  no  good  thing 
from  us,  but  considers  and  gives  what  we  actually  need. 
We  see  how  reasonable  it  is  that  He  should  require 
us  to  trust  Him.  To  every  fainting  soul,  to  every  one 
who  has  wandered  far  and  whose  strength  is  gone, 
and  round  whom  the  shadows  and  chills  of  night  are 
gathering,  He  says  through  this  miracle :  "  Wherefore 
do  ye  spend  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread,  and 
your  labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not  ?  Hearken 
diligently  unto  Me,  and  eat  ye  that  which  is  good,  and 
let  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness."  * 

•  On  verses  37,  44,  and  45  see  note  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 


XV. 

THE   CRISIS  IN  GALILEE. 


223 


**  Many  therefore  of  His  disciples,  when  they  heard  this,  said.  This 
is  a  hard  saying  ;  who  can  hear  it  ?  But  Jesus  knowing  in  Himself 
that  His  disciplesi  murmured  at  this,  said  unto  them,  Doth  this  cause  you 
to  stumble?  What  then  if  ye  should  behold  the  Son  of  man  ascending 
where  He  was  before  ?  It  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth ;  the  flesh 
prohteth  nothing  :  the  words  that  I  have  spoken  unto  you  are  spirit, 
tnd  are  life.  But  there  are  some  of  you  that  believe  not  For  Jesus 
knew  from  the  beginning  who  they  were  that  believed  not,  and  who  it 
was  that  should  betray  Him.  And  He  said,  For  this  cause  have  I  said 
unto  you,  that  no  man  can  come  unto  Me,  except  it  be  given  unto  him 
of  the  Father.  Upon  this  many  of  His  disciples  went  back,  and  walked 
no  more  with  Him.  Jesus  said  therefore  unto  the  twelve,  Would  ye 
also  go  away  ?  Simon  Peter  answered  Him,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we 
go  ?  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  And  we  have  believed  and 
know  that  Thou  art  the  Holy  One  of  God.  Jesus  answered  them,  Did 
not  I  choose  you  the  twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil  ?  Now  He  spake 
of  Judas  the  son  of  Simon  Iscariot,  for  he  it  was  that  should  betraf 
Hintt  being  one  of  the  twelve."— John  vi.  60-71. 


»X4 


XV 

THE  CRISIS  IN  GALILEE. 

THE  situation  in  which  our  Lord  found  Himself 
at  this  stage  of  His  career  is  full  of  pathos.  He 
began  His  ministry  in  Judaea,  and  His  success  there 
seemed  to  be  all  that  could  be  desired.  But  it  soon 
became  apparent  that  the  crowds  who  followed  Him 
misunderstood  or  wilfully  ignored  His  purpose.  They 
resorted  to  Him  chiefl}'^,  if  not  solely,  for  material 
advantages  and  political  ends.  He  was  in  danger  of 
being  accounted  the  most  skilful  metropolitan  physician  ; 
or  in  the  greater  danger  of  being  courted  by  politicians 
as  a  likely  popular  leader,  who  might  be  used  as  a 
revolutionary  flag  or  party  cry.  He,  therefore,  left 
Jerusalem  at  an  early  period  in  His  ministry  and 
betook  Himself  to  Galilee ;  and  now,  after  some  months' 
preaching  and  mingling  with  the  people,  things  have 
worked  round  in  Galilee  to  precisely  the  same  point 
as  they  had  reached  in  Judaea.  Great  crowds  are 
following  Him  to  be  healed  and  to  be  fed,  while  the 
politically  inclined  have  at  last  made  a  distinct  effort 
to  make  Him  a  king,  to  force  Him  into  a  collision  with 
the  authorities.  His  proper  work  is  in  danger  of  being 
lost  sight  of  He  finds  it  necessary  to  sift  the  crowds 
who  follow  Him.  And  He  does  so  by  addressing 
them  in  terms  which  can  be  acceptable  only  to  truly 

**5  15 


226  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

spiritual  men — by  plainly  assuring  them  that  He  was 
among  them,  not  to  give  them  political  privileges  and 
the  bread  that  perisheth,  but  the  bread  that  endureth. 
They  found  Him  to  be  what  they  would  call  an  im- 
practicable dreamer.  They  profess  to  go  away  because 
they  cannot  understand  Him ;  but  they  understand 
Him  well  enough  to  see  He  is  not  the  person  for 
their  purposes.  They  seek  earth,  and  heaven  is  thrust 
upon  them.  They  turn  away  disappointed,  and  many 
walk  no  more  with  Him.  The  great  crowd  melts  away, 
and  He  is  left  with  His  original  following  of  twelve  men. 
His  months  of  teaching  and  toil  seem  to  have  gone 
for  nothing.  It  might  seem  doubtful  if  even  the  twelve 
would  be  faithful — if  any  result  of  His  work  would 
remain,  if  any  would  cordially  and  lovingly  adhere  to 
Him. 

One  cannot,  I  think,  view  this  situation  without 
perceiving  how  analogous  it  is  in  many  respects  to 
the  aspect  of  things  in  our  own  day.  In  all  ages  of 
course  this  sifting  of  the  followers  of  Christ  goes  on. 
There  are  experiences  common  to  all  times  and  places 
which  test  men's  attachment  to  Christ.  But  in  our 
own  day  exceptional  causes  are  producing  a  consider- 
able diminution  of  the  numbers  who  follow  Christ, 
or  at  least  are  altering  considerably  the  grounds  on 
which  they  profess  to  follow  Him.  When  one  views 
the  defection  of  men  of  influence,  of  thought,  of  learning, 
of  earnest  and  devout  spirit,  one  cannot  but  wonder 
what  is  to  be  the  end  of  this,  and  how  far  it  is  to 
extend.  One  cannot  but  look  anxiously  at  those  who 
seem  to  remain,  and  to  say,  "  Will  ye  also  go  away  ? " 
No  doubt  such  times  of  sifting  are  of  eminent  service 
in  winnowing  out  the  true  from  the  mistaken  followers, 
and  in  summoning  all  men  to  revise  the  reason  of  their 


vl.  60-71.]  THE  CRISIS  IN  GALILEE.  aay 

attachment  to  Christ  When  we  see  men  of  serious 
mind  and  of  great  attainments  deliberately  abandoning 
the  Christian  position,  we  cannot  but  anxiously  inquire 
whether  we  are  right  in  maintaining  that  position. 
When  the  question  comes  to  us,  as  in  Providence  it 
does,  "Will  ye  also  go  away?"  we  must  have  our 
answer  ready. 

The  answer  of  Peter  clearly  shows  what  it  was  that 
bound  the  faithful  few  to  Jesus;  and  in  his  answer 
three  reasons  for  faith  may  be  discerned. 

I.  Jesus  satisfied  their  deepest  spiritual  wants.  They 
had  found  in  Him  provision  for  their  whole  nature,  and 
had  learned  the  truth  of  His  saying,  "  He  that  cometh 
to  Me  shall  never  hunger,  and  He  that  believeth  on 
Me  shall  never  thirst."  They  could  now  say,  "Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."  His  words  made  water 
into  wine,  and  five  loaves  into  five  thousand,  but  His 
words  did  what  was  far  more  to  their  purpose, — they 
fed  their  spirit.  His  words  brought  them  nearer  to 
God,  promised  them  eternal  life,  and  began  it  within 
them.  From  the  lips  of  Jesus  had  actually  fallen  words 
which  quickened  within  them  a  new  life — a  life  which 
they  recognised  as  eternal,  as  lifting  them  up  into 
another  world.  These  words  of  His  had  given  them 
new  thoughts  about  God  and  about  righteousness,  they 
had  stirred  hopes  and  feelings  of  an  altogether  new 
kind.  And  this  spiritual  life  was  more  to  them  than 
anything  else.  No  doubt  these  men,  like  their  neigh- 
bours, had  their  faults,  their  private  ambitions,  their 
hopes.  Peter  could  not  forget  that  He  had  left  all  for 
his  Master,  and  often  thought  of  his  home,  his  plentiful 
table,  his  family,  when  wandering  about  with  Jesus. 
They  all,  probably,  had  an  expectation  that  their 
abandonment  of  their  occupations  would  not  be  wholly 


*a  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

without  compensation  in  this  life,  and  that  prominent 
position  and  worldly  advantage  awaited  them.  Still, 
when  they  discovered  that  these  were  mistaken  expecta- 
tions, they  did  not  grumble  nor  go  back,  for  such  were 
not  their  chief  reasons  for  following  Jesus.  It  was 
chiefly  by  His  appeal  to  their  spiritual  leanings  that 
He  attracted  them.  It  was  rather  for  eternal  life  than 
for  present  advantage  they  attached  themselves  to  Him. 
They  found  more  of  God  in  Him  than  elsewhere,  and 
listening  to  Him  they  found  themselves  better  men 
than  before;  and  having  experienced  that  His  words 
were  "spirit  and  life"  (ver.  63),  they  could  not  now 
abandon  Him  though  all  the  world  did  so. 

So  is  it  always.  When  Christ  sifts  His  followers 
those  remain  who  have  spiritual  tastes  and  wants. 
The  spiritual  man,  the  man  who  would  rather  be  like 
God  than  be  rich,  whose  efforts  after  worldly  advance- 
ment are  not  half  as  earnest  and  sustained  as  His 
efforts  after  spiritual  health ;  the  man,  in  short,  who 
seeks  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness, 
and  lets  other  things  be  added  or  not  to  this  prime 
requisite,  cleaves  to  Christ  because  there  is  that  in 
Christ  which  satisfies  his  tastes  and  gives  him  the  life 
he  chiefly  desires.  There  is  in  Christ  a  suitableness 
to  the  wants  of  men  who  live  in  view  of  God  and 
eternity,  and  who  seek  to  adjust  themselves,  not  only 
to  the  world  around  them  so  as  to  be  comfortable  and 
successful  in  it,  but  also  to  the  things  unseen,  to  the 
permanent  laws  which  are  to  govern  human  beings 
and  human  affairs  throughout  eternity.  Such  men 
find  in  Christ  that  which  enables  them  to  adjust 
themselves  to  things  eternal.  They  find  in  Christ 
just  that  revelation  of  God,  and  that  reconcilement 
to    Him,   and   that   help    to   abiding   in    Him,    which 


n.6o-jri.]  THE  CRISIS  IN  GAULEE.  w^ 

they  need.  They  cannot  imagine  a  time,  they  cannot 
picture  to  themselves  a  stajte  of  society,  in  which  the 
words  and  teaching  of  Jesus  would  not  be  the  safest 
guide  and  the  highest  law.  Life  eternal,  life  for  men 
as  men,  is  taught  by  Him;  not  professional  life,  not 
the  life  of  a  religious  rule  that  must  pass  away,  not  life 
for  this  world  only,  but  life  eternal,  life  such  as  men 
everywhere  and  always  ought  to  live — this  is  appre- 
hended by  Him  and  explained  by  Him;  and  power 
and  desire  to  live  it  is  quickened  within  men  by  His 
words.  Coming  into  His  presence  we  recognise  the 
assuredness  of  perfect  knowledge,  the  simplicity  of 
perfect  truth.  That  which  outrides  all  such  critical 
times  as  the  disciples  were  now  passing  through  is  true 
spirituality  of  mind.  The  man  who  is  bent  on  nourish- 
ing his  spirit  to  life  everlasting  simply  cannot  dispense 
with  what  he  finds  in  Christ. 

We  need  not  then  greatly  fear  for  our  own  faith  if 
we  are  sure  that  we  covet  the  words  of  eternal  life 
more  than  the  path  to  worldly  advantage.  Still  less 
need  we  tremble  for  the  faith  of  others  if  we  know 
that  their  tastes  are  spiritual,  their  leanings  Godward. 
Parents  are  naturally  anxious  about  their  children's 
faith,  and  fear  it  may  be  endangered  by  the  advances 
of  science  or  by  the  old  props  of  faith  being  shaken. 
Such  anxiety  is  in  great  measure  misdirected.  Let 
parents  see  to  it  that  their  children  grow  up  with  a 
preference  for  purity,  unselfishness,  truth,  unworldli- 
ness ;  let  parents  set  before  their  children  an  example 
of  real  preference  for  things  spiritual,  and  let  them  with 
God's  aid  cultivate  in  their  children  an  appetite  for 
what  is  heavenly,  a  craving  to  live  on  terms  with  God 
and  with  conscience;  and  this  appetite  will  infallibly 
lead  them  to  Christ.     Does  Christ  supply  the  wants  of 


230  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

our  spirits  ?  Can  He  show  us  the  way  to  eternal  life  ? 
Have  men  found  in  Him  all  needed  help  to  godly 
living?  Have  the  most  spiritual  and  ardent  of  men 
been  precisely  those  who  have  most  clearly  seen  their 
need  of  Him,  and  who  have  found  in  Him  everything 
to  satisfy  and  feed  their  own  spiritual  ardour?  Has 
He,  that  is  to  say,  the  words  of  eternal  life  ?  Is  He  the 
Person  to  whom  every  man  must  Hsten  if  he  would 
find  his  way  to  God  and  a  happy  eternity?  Then, 
depend  upon  it,  men  will  believe  in  Christ  in  every 
generation,  and  none  the  less  firmly  because  their 
attention  is  called  off  from  non-essential  and  external 
evidences  to  the  simple  sufficiency  of  Christ. 

2.  Peter  was  convinced  not  only  that  Jesus  had  the 
words  of  eternal  life,  but  that  no  one  else  had.  "  To 
whom  shall  we  go  ? "  Peter  had  not  an  exhaustive 
knowledge  of  all  sources  of  human  wisdom  ;  but  speak- 
ing from  his  own  experience  he  affirmed  his  conviction 
that  it  was  useless  to  seek  life  eternal  anywhere 
else  than  in  Jesus.  And  it  seems  equally  hopeless 
still  to  look  to  any  other  quarter  for  sufficient  teaching, 
for  words  that  are  "spirit  and  life."  Where  but  in 
Christ  do  we  find  a  God  we  can  accept  as  God  ? 
Where  but  in  Him  do  we  find  that  which  can  not  only 
encourage  men  striving  after  virtue,  but  also  reclaim 
the  vicious  ?  To  put  anyone  alongside  of  Christ  as  a 
revealer  of  God,  as  a  pattern  of  virtue,  as  a  Saviour 
of  men,  is  absurd.  There  is  that  in  Him  which  we 
recognise  as  not  merely  superior,  but  of  another  1  ind. 
So  that  those  who  reject  Him,  or  set  Him  on  a  level 
with  other  teachers,  have  first  of  all  to  reject  the  chief 
part  of  what  His  contemporaries  were  struck  with  and 
reported,  and  to  fashion  a  Christ  of  their  own. 

And  it  should  be  observed  that  Christ  claims  this 


▼L60-7I.]  THE  CRISIS  IN  GALILEE.  931 

exceptional  homage  from  His  people.  The  "  following  '* 
He  requires  is  not  a  mere  acceptance  of  His  teaching 
alongside  of  other  teaching,  nor  an  acceptance  of  His 
teaching  apart  from  Himself,  as  if  a  man  should  listen 
to  Him  and  go  home  and  try  to  practise  what  he  has 
heard ;  but  He  requires  men  to  form  a  connection  with 
Himself  as  their  King  and  Life,  as  that  One  who  can 
alone  give  them  strength  to  obey  Him.  To  call  Him 
"  the  Teacher,"  as  if  this  were  His  sole  or  chief  title, 
is  to  mislead. 

The  alternative,  then,  as  Peter  saw,  was  Christ  or 
nothing.  And  every  day  it  is  becoming  clearer  that 
this  is  the  alternative,  that  between  Christianity  and  the 
blankest  Atheism  there  is  no  middle  place.  Indeed  we 
may  say  that  between  Christianity,  with  its  supernatural 
facts,  and  materialism,  which  admits  of  no  supernatural 
at  all,  and  of  nothing  spiritual  and  immortal,  there 
is  no  logical  standing-ground.  A  man's  choice  lies 
between  these  two — either  Christ  with  His  claims  in 
all  their  fulness,  or  a  material  universe  working  out  its 
life  under  the  impulse  of  some  inscrutable  force.  There 
are  of  course  men  who  are  neither  Christians  nor 
materialists;  but  that  is  because  they  have  not  yet 
found  their  intellectual  resting-place.  As  soon  as  they 
obey  reason,  they  will  travel  to  one  or  other  of  these 
extremes,  for  between  the  two  is  no  logical  standing- 
ground.  If  there  is  a  God,  then  there  seems  nothing 
incredible,  nothing  even  very  surprising,  in  Christianity. 
Christianity  becomes  merely  the  flower  or  fruit  for  which 
the  world  exists,  the  element  in  the  world's  history 
which  gives  meaning  and  glory  to  the  whole  of  it : 
without  Christianity  and  all  it  involves  the  world  lacks 
interest  of  the  highest  kind.  If  a  man  finds  he  cannot 
admit  the  possibility  of  such  an  interference  in   the 


sja  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

world's  monotonous  way  as  the  Incarnation  implies,  it 
is  because  there  is  in  his  mind  an  Atheistic  tendency, 
a  tendency  to  make  the  laws  of  the  world  more 
than  the  Creator;  to  make  the  world  itself  God,  the 
highest  thing.  The  Atheist's  position  is  thorough- 
going and  logical ;  and  against  the  Atheist  the  man 
who  professes  to  believe  in  a  Personal  God  and  yet 
denies  miracle  is  helpless.  And  in  point  of  fact 
Atheistic  writers  are  rapidly  sweeping  the  field  of  all 
other  antagonists,  and  the  intermediate  positions  be- 
tween Christianity  and  Atheism  are  becoming  daily 
more  untenable. 

Any  one  then  who  is  offended  at  the  supernatural  in 
Christianity,  and  is  disposed  to  turn  away  and  walk 
no  more  with  Christ,  should  view  the  alternative,  and 
consider  what  it  is  with  which  he  must  throw  in  his 
lot  To  retain  what  is  called  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and 
reject  all  that  is  miraculous  and  above  our  present 
comprehension,  is  to  commit  oneself  to  a  path  which 
naturally  leads  to  disbelief  in  God.  We  must  choose 
between  Christ  as  He  stands  in  the  gospels,  claiming 
to  be  Divine,  rising  from  the  dead  and  now  alive ;  and 
a  world  in  which  there  is  no  God  manifest  in  the  flesh 
or  anywhere  else,  a  world  that  has  come  into  being 
no  one  knows  how  or  whence,  and  that  is  running 
on  no  one  knows  whither,  unguided  by  any  intelligence 
outside  of  itself,  wholly  governed  by  laws  which  have 
grown  out  of  some  impersonal  force  of  which  nobody 
can  give  any  good  account.  Difficult  as  it  is  to  believe 
in  Christ,  it  is  surely  still  more  difficult  to  believe  in 
the  only  alternative,  a  world  wholly  material,  in  which 
matter  rules  and  spirit  is  a  mere  accident  of  no  account. 
If  there  are  inexplicable  things  in  the  gospel,  there 
are  also  sc  us  and  around  us  facts  wholly  inexplicable 


▼L6o-yi.l  THE  CRISIS  IN  GAULEE.  asj 

on  the  atheistic  theory.  If  the  Christian  must  be 
content  to  wait  for  the  solution  of  many  mysteries,  so 
certainly  must  the  materialist  be  content  to  leave 
unsolved  many  of  the  most  important  problems  of  human 
life.* 

3.  The  third  reason  which  Peter  assigns  for  the 
unalterable  loyalty  of  the  Twelve  is  expressed  in  the 
words,  "  We  have  believed  and  know  that  Thou  art  the 
Holy  One  of  God."  By  this  he  probably  meant  that 
he  and  the  rest  had  come  to  be  convinced  that  Jesus 
was  the  Christ,  the  Messiah,  the  consecrated  One, 
whom  God  had  set  apart  to  this  office.  The  same 
expression  was  used  by  the  demoniac  in  the  synagogue 
at  Capernaum.*  But  although  the  idea  of  consecra- 
tion to  an  office  rather  than  the  idea  of  personal 
holiness  is  prominent  in  the  word,  it  may  very  well 
have  been  the  personal  holiness  of  their  Master  which 
bore  in  upon  the  minds  of  the  disciples  that  He  was 
indeed  the  Messiah.  By  His  life  with  them  from  day 
to  day  He  revealed  God  to  them.  They  had  seen 
Him  in  a  great  variety  of  circumstances.  They  had 
seen  His  compassion  for  every   form  of  sorrow  and 

'  "  Those  who  turn  their  backs  on  the  Eternal  Son  must  understand, 
then,  that  they  are  on  their  way  to  a  creed  which  denies  an  Eternal 
Father,  and  puts  in  His  place  an  unconscious  impersonal  soul  of  nature, 
a  dead  central  force,  of  which  all  the  forces  in  the  universe  are  manifes- 
tations ;  or  an  unknown,  unknowable  cause,  remaining  to  be  postulated 
after  the  series  of  physical  causes  has  been  traced  as  far  back  as  science 
can  go  ;  and  which  robs  mortal  man  of  the  hope  that  the  seed  sown 
in  the  churchyard  shall  one  day  be  reaped  in  the  harvest  of  the  resur> 
rection.  .  .  .  Your  so-called  Christianity  independent  of  dogmas  is  but 
the  evening  twilight  of  faith,  the  light  which  lingers  in  the  spiritual 
atmosphere  after  the  sun  of  truth  has  gone  down." — Dr.  Bruce,  Train- 
ing of  the  Twelve,  p.  1 54,  a  book  to  which  I  am  greatly  indebted  hat 
and  elsewhere. 

*  Mark  I  24. 


S34  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

misery,  and  His  regardlessness  of  self;  they  had 
marked  His  behaviour  when  offered  a  crown  and  when 
threatened  with  the  cross ;  they  had  seen  Him  at 
table  in  gay  company,  and  they  had  seen  Him  fasting 
and  in  houses  of  mourning,  in  danger,  in  vehement 
discussion,  in  retirement ;  and  in  all  circumstances 
and  scenes  they  had  found  Him  holy,  so  holy  that 
to  turn  from  Him  they  felt  would  be  to  turn  from 
God. 

The  emphasis  with  which  they  affirm  their  conviction 
is  remarkable;  "We  have  believed  and  we  know." 
It  is  as  if  they  felt,  We  may  be  doubtful  of  much  and 
ignorant  of  much,  but  this  at  least  we  are  sure  of.  We 
see  men  leaving  our  company  who  are  fit  to  instruct 
and  guide  us  in  most  matters,  but  they  do  not  know 
our  Lord  as  VN^e  do.  What  they  have  said  has  disturbed 
our  minds  and  has  caused  us  to  revise  our  beliefs,  but 
we  return  to  our  old  position,  "  We  have  believed  and 
we  know."  It  may  be  true  that  devils  have  been  cast 
out  by  the  prince  of  the  devils  ;  we  do  not  know.  But 
a  stainless  life  is  more  miraculous  and  Divine  than  the 
casting  out  of  devils;  it  is  more  unknown  in  the  world, 
referrible  to  no  freak  of  nature,  accomplished  by  no 
sleight  of  hand  or  jugglery,  but  due  only  to  the  presence 
of  God,  Here  we  have  not  the  sign  or  evidence  of  the 
thing  but  the  thing  itself,  God  not  using  man  as  an 
external  agent  for  operating  upon  the  material  world, 
but  God  present  in  the  man,  living  in  his  life,  one 
with  him. 

Upon  our  faith  nothing  is  more  influential  than  the 
holiness  of  Christ.  Nothing  is  more  certainly  Divine. 
Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  God — not  His  power, 
not  His  wisdom,  not  even  His  eternal  Being.  He  who 
in  his  own  person  and  life  represents  to  us  the  holiness 


▼L  60-71.]  THE  CRISIS  IN  GAULEE.  235 

of  God  is  more  certainly  superhuman  than  he  who 
represents  God's  power.  A  power  to  work  miracles 
has  often  been  delegated  to  men,  but  holiness  cannot 
be  so  delegated.  It  belongs  to  character,  to  the  man's 
self ;  it  is  a  thing  of  nature,  of  will,  and  of  habit ;  a 
king  may  give  to  his  ambassador  ample  powers,  he 
may  fill  his  hands  with  credentials,  and  load  him  with 
gifts  which  shall  be  acceptable  to  the  monarch  to  whom 
he  is  sent,  but  he  cannot  give  him  a  tact  he  does  not 
naturally  possess,  a  courtesy  he  has  not  acquired  by 
dealing  with  other  princes,  nor  the  influence  of  wise 
and  magnanimous  words,  if  these  do  not  inherently 
belong  to  the  ambassador's  self.  So  the  holiness  of 
Christ  was  even  more  convincing  than  His  power  or 
His  message.  It  was  such  a  holiness  as  caused  the 
disciples  to  feel  that  He  was  not  a  mere  messenger. 
His  holiness  revealed  Himself  as  well  as  Him  that  sent 
Him  ;  and  the  self  that  was  thus  revealed  they  felt 
to  be  more  than  human.  When,  therefore,  their  faith 
was  tried  by  seeing  the  multitudes  abandon  their  Lord, 
they  were  thrown  back  on  their  surest  ground  of  con- 
fidence in  Him;  and  that  surest  ground  was  not  the 
miracles  which  all  had  seen,  but  the  consecrated  and 
perfect  life  which  was  known  to  them. 

To  ourselves,  then,  I  say,  by  the  circumstances  of 
our  time  this  question  comes,  "  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?  " 
Will  you  be  like  the  rest,  or  will  exceptional  fidelity  be 
found  in  you  ?  Is  your  attachment  to  Christ  so  based 
on  personal  conviction,  is  it  so  truly  the  growth  of 
your  own  experience,  and  so  little  a  mere  echo  of 
popular  opinion,  that  you  say  in  your  heart,  "  Though 
all  men  should  forsake  Thee,  yet  will  not  I "  ?  It  is 
difficult  to  resist  the  current  of  thought  and  opinion 
that  prevails  around  us;  difficult  to  dispute  or  even 


236  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

question  the  opinion  of  men  who  have  been  our  teachers, 
and  who  have  first  awakened  our  mind  to  see  the 
majesty  of  truth  and  the  beauty  of  the  universe ;  it  is 
difficult  to  choose  our  own  way,  and  thus  tacitly  con- 
demn the  choice  and  the  way  of  men  we  know  to  be 
purer  in  life,  and  in  every  essential  respect  better  than 
ourselves.  And  yet,  perhaps,  it  is  well  that  we  are 
thus  compelled  to  make  up  our  own  mind,  to  examine 
the  claims  of  Christ  for  ourselves,  and  so  follow  Him 
with  the  resolution  that  comes  of  personal  conviction. 
It  is  this  our  Lord  desires.  He  does  not  compel  nor 
hasten  our  decision.  He  does  not  upbraid  His  followers 
for  their  serious  misunderstandings  of  His  person. 
He  allows  them  to  be  familiar  with  Him  even  while 
labouring  under  many  misconceptions,  because  He 
knows  that  these  misconceptions  will  most  surely  pass 
away  in  His  society  and  by  further  acquaintance  with 
Him.  One  thing  He  insists  upon,  one  thing  He  asks 
from  us — that  we  follow  Him.  We  may  only  have  a 
vague  impression  that  He  is  quite  different  from  all 
else  we  know ;  we  may  be  doubtful,  as  yet,  in  what 
sense  some  of  the  highest  titles  are  ascribed  to  Him ; 
we  may  be  quite  mistaken  about  the  significance  ot 
certain  important  parts  of  His  Hfe ;  we  may  disagree 
among  ourselves  regarding  the  nature  of  His  kingdom 
and  regarding  the  conditions  of  entrance  into  it ;  but. 
if  we  follow  Him,  if  we  join  our  fortunes  to  His,  and 
wish  nothing  better  than  to  be  within  the  sound  of  His 
voice  and  to  do  His  bidding;  if  we  truly  love  Him,  and 
find  that  He  has  taken  a  place  in  our  life  we  cannot 
ever  give  to  another;  if  we  are  conscious  that  our 
future  lies  His  way,  and  that  we  must  in  heart  abide 
with  Him,  then  all  our  slowness  to  understand  is 
patiently  dealt  with,  all  our  underrating  of  His  real 


V1.60-7I.]  THE  CRISIS  IN  GAULEE.  %y: 

dignity  is  forgiven  us,  and  we  are  led  on  in  His 
company  to  perfect  conformity,  perfect  union,  and 
perfect  knowledge. 

All  that  He  desires,  then,  is,  in  the  first  place,  not 
something  we  cannot  give,  not  a  belief  in  certain  truths 
about  which  doubt  may  reasonably  be  entertained,  not 
an  acknowledgment  of  facts  that  are  as  yet  beyond  our 
vision ;  but,  that  we  follow  Him,  that  we  be  in  this 
world  as  He  was  in  it.  Shall  we,  then,  let  Him  pursue 
His  way  alone,  shall  we  do  nothing  to  forward  His 
purposes,  shall  we  show  no  sympathy,  address  no 
word  to  Him,  and  pretend  not  to  hear  when  He  speaks 
to  us  ?  To  drag  ourselves  along  murmuring,  doubting, 
making  difficulties,  a  mere  dead  weight  on  our  Leader, 
this  is  not  to  follow  as  He  desires  to  be  followed.  To 
take  our  own  way  in  the  main,  and  only  appear  here 
and  there  on  the  road  He  has  taken  ;  to  be  always 
trying  to  combine  the  pursuit  of  our  own  private  ends 
with  the  pursuance  of  His  ends,  is  not  to  follow.  Had 
we  seen  these  men  asking  leave  of  absence  two  or 
three  times  a  month  to  go  and  look  after  the  fishing, 
even  though  they  promised  to  overtake  their  Master 
somewhere  on  the  road,  we  should  scarcely  have  recog- 
nised them  as  His  followers.  Had  we  found  them,  on 
reaching  a  village  at  night,  leaving  Him,  and  preferring 
to  spend  their  leisure  with  His  enemies,  we  should 
have  been  inclined  to  ask  an  explanation  of  conduct  so 
inconsistent.  Yet  is  not  our  own  following  very  much 
of  this  kind  ?  Is  there  not  too  little  of  the  following 
that  says,  "  What  is  enough  for  the  Lord  is  enough  for 
me  ;  His  aims  are  enough  for  me  "  ?  Is  there  not  too 
little  of  the  following  that  springs  from  a  frank  and 
genuine  dealing  with  the  Lord  from  day  to  day,  and 
from  a  conscientious  desire  to  meet  His  will  with  us, 


238  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST,  JOHN. 

and  satisfy  His  idea  of  how  we  should  follow  Him  ? 
May  we  each  have  the  peace  and  joy  of  the  man  who, 
when  this  question,  "  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?  "  comes  to 
him,  quickly  and  from  the  heart  responds,  "  I  will  never 
forsake  Thee." 


XVI. 

JESUS  DISCUSSED  IN  JERUSALEM, 


»39 


"  And  after  these  things  Jesus  walked  in  Galilee  t  for  He  would  not 

walk  in  Judaea,  because  the  Jews  sought  to  kill  Him.  Now  the  feast 
of  the  Jews,  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  was  at  hand.  His  brethren  there- 
fore said  unto  Him,  Depart  hence,  and  go  into  Judaea,  that  Thy  disciples 
also  may  behold  Thy  works  which  Thou  doest.  For  no  man  doeth 
anything  in  secret,  and  himself  seeketh  to  be  known  openly.  If  Thou 
doest  these  things,  manifest  Thyself  to  the  world.  For  even  His  brethren 
did  not  believe  on  Him.  Jesus  therefore  saith  unto  them.  My  time  is 
not  yet  come ;  but  your  time  is  alway  ready.  The  world  cannot  hate 
you ;  but  Me  it  hateth,  because  I  testify  of  it,  that  its  works  are  evil. 
Go  ye  up  unto  the  feast :  I  go  not  up  yet  unto  this  feast ;  because  My 
time  is  not  yet  fulfilled.  And  having  said  these  things  unto  them.  He 
abode  still  in  Galilee.  But  when  His  brethren  were  gone  up  unto  the 
feast,  then  went  He  also  up,  not  publicly,  but  as  it  were  in  secret.  The 
Jews  therefore  sought  Him  at  the  feast,  and  said.  Where  is  He  ?  And 
there  was  much  murmuring  among  the  multitudes  concerning  Him : 
some  said.  He  is  a  good  man  ;  others  said,  Not  so,  but  He  leadeth  the 
multitude  astray.  Howbeit  no  man  spoke  openly  of  Him  for  fear  of 
the  Jews.  But  when  it  was  now  the  midst  of  the  feast  Jesus  went  up 
into  the  temple,  and  taught.  The  Jews  therefore  marvelled,  saying, 
How  knoweth  this  man  letters,  having  never  learned?  Jesus  therefore 
answered  them,  and  said.  My  teaching  is  not  Mine  but  His  that  sent 
Me.  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  His  will  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching, 
whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  from  Myself  He  that 
speaketh  from  himself  seeketh  his  own  glory  :  but  he  that  seeketh  the 
glory  of  him  that  sent  him,  the  same  is  true,  and  no  unrighteousness 
is  in  him.  Did  not  Moses  give  you  the  law,  and  yet  none  of  you  doeth 
the  law  ?  Why  seek  ye  to  kill  Me  ?  The  multitude  answered,  Thou 
hast  a  devil :  who  seeketh  to  kUl  Thee  ?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
them,  I  did  one  work,  and  ye  all  marvel.  For  this  catise  hath  Moses 
given  you  circumcision  (not  that  it  is  of  Moses,  but  of  the  fathers)  ;  and 
on  the  Sabbath  ye  circumcise  a  man.  If  a  man  receiveth  circumcision 
on  the  Sabbath,  that  the  law  of  Moses  may  not  be  broken ;  are  ye  wroth 
with  Me,  because  I  made  a  man  every  whit  whole  on  the  Sabbath  ? 
Judge  not  according  to  appearance,  but  judge  righteous  judegment 
Some  therefore  of  them  of  Jerusalem  said.  Is  not  this  He  whom  they 
seek  to  kill  ?  And  lo.  He  speaketh  openly,  and  they  say  nothing  unto 
Him.    Can  it  be  that  the  rulers  indeed  know  that  this  is  the  Christ  ? 

*4»  l6 


Howbeit  we  know  this  man  whence  He  is :  but  when  the  Girist  cometh, 
no  one  knoweth  whence  He  is.  Jesus  therefore  cried  in  the  temple, 
teaching  and  saying.  Ye  both  know  Me,  and  know  whence  I  am  ;  and 
I  am  not  come  of  Myself  but  He  that  sent  Me  is  true,  whom  ye  know 
not.  I  know  Him  ;  because  I  am  from  Him,  and  He  sent  Me.  They 
sought  therefore  to  take  Him  :  and  no  man  laid  his  hand  on  Him, 
because  His  hour  was  not  yet  come.  But  of  the  multitude  many 
believed  on  Him  ;  and  they  said,  When  the  Christ  shall  come,  will  He 
do  more  signs  than  those  which  this  man  hath  done  ?  The  Pharisees 
heard  the  multitude  murmuring  these  things  concerning  Him  ;  and  the 
chief  priests  and  the  Pharisees  sent  officers  to  take  Him.  Jesus  there- 
fore said,  Yet  a  little  while  am  I  with  you,  and  I  go  unto  Him  that  sent 
Me.  Ye  shall  seek  Me,  and  shall  not  find  Me :  and  where  I  am,  ye  can- 
not come.  The  Jews  therefore  said  among  themselves,  Whither  will 
this  man  go  that  we  shall  not  find  Him  ?  will  He  go  unto  the  Dispersion 
among  the  Greeks,  and  teach  the  Greeks?  What  is  this  word  that  He 
said,  Ye  shall  seek  Me,  and  shall  not  find  Me  :  and  where  I  am,  ye 
cannot  come  ?  Now  on  the  last  day,  the  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus 
stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me  and 
drink.  He  that  believeth  on  Me,  as  the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his 
belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water.  But  this  spake  He  of  the  Spirit, 
which  they  that  believed  on  Him  were  to  receive  :  for  the  Spirit  was 
not  yet  given  :  because  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified.  Some  of  the  multi- 
tude therefore,  when  they  heard  these  words,  said.  This  is  of  a  truth  the 
prophet.  Others  said.  This  is  the  Christ.  But  some  said,  What,  doth 
the  Christ  come  out  of  Galilee?  Hath  not  the  Scripture  said  that  the 
Christ  cometh  of  the  seed  of  David,  and  from  Bethlehem,  the  village 
where  David  was  ?  So  there  arose  a  division  in  the  multitude  because 
of  Him.  And  some  of  them  would  have  taken  Him  ;  but  no  man  laid 
hands  on  Him.  The  officers  therefore  came  to  the  chief  priests  and 
Pharisees  ;  and  they  said  unto  them.  Why  did  ye  not  bring  Him  ?  The 
ofiicers  answered.  Never  man  so  spake.  The  Fharisees  therefore 
answered  them.  Are  ye  also  led  astray?  Hath  any  of  the  rulers  believed 
on  Him,  or  of  the  Pharisees  ?  But  this  multitude  which  knoweth  not 
the  law  are  accursed.  Nicodemus  saith  unto  them  (he  that  came  to 
Him  before,  being  one  of  them),  Doth  our  law  judge  a  man,  except  it 
first  hear  from  himself  and  know  what  he  doeth  ?  They  answered  and 
said  unto  him,  Ait  thou  also  of  Galilee  ?  Search,  and  see  that  out  of 
Galilee  ariseth  no  prophet." — John  vii. 


■4> 


XVI. 

/ESUS  DISCUSSED  IN  JERUSALEM, 

AFTER  describing  how  matters  were  brought  to  « 
crisis  in  Galilee,  and  pointing  out  that,  as  the 
result  of  our  Lord's  work  there,  only  twelve  men 
adhered  to  Him,  and  in  even  this  final  selection  not  all 
were  to  be  trusted, — John  passes  on  to  describe  the 
state  of  feeling  towards  Jesus  in  Jerusalem,  and  how 
the  storm  of  unbelief  gathered  until  it  broke  in  violence 
and  outrage.  *  This  seventh  chapter  is  intended  to  put 
us  in  the  right  point  of  view  by  exhibiting  the  various 
estimates  that  were  formed  of  the  work  and  person  of 
Jesus,  and  the  opinions  which  any  one  might  hear 
uttered  regarding  Him  at  every  table  in  Jerusalem. 

But  the  motive  of  His  going  to  Jerusalem  at  all  calls 
for  remark.  His  brothers,  who  might  have  been  ex- 
pected to  understand  His  character  best,  were  very 
slow  to  believe  in  Him.  They  only  felt  He  was 
diiferent  from  themselves,  and  they  were  nettled  by  His 
peculiarity.  But  they  felt  that  the  credit  of  the  family 
was  involved,  and  also  that  ty  His  claims  should  turn 
out  to  be  true,  their  position  as  brothers  of  the  Messiah 

*  It  will  be  observed  that  the  remaining  part  of  the  Gospel  goes  into 
very  small  compass  as  regards  time.  Chapters  viL-x.  21  are  occupied 
with  what  was  said  and  done  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  chapten 
pL-sx,  with  the  last  PassoTcr. 

•41 


444  THE  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  JOHN. 

would  be  flattering.  Accordingly  they  betray  consider- 
able anxiety  to  have  His  claims  pronounced  upon ;  and 
seeing  that  His  work  in  Galilee  had  come  to  so  little, 
they  do  their  utmost  to  provoke  Him  to  appeal  at  once 
to  the  central  authority  at  Jerusalem.  They  did  not 
as  yet  believe  in  Him,  they  could  not  entertain  the  idea 
that  the  boy  they  had  knocked  about  and  made  to  run 
their  messages  could  be  the  long-expected  King ;  and 
yet  there  was  such  trustworthy  report  of  the  extra- 
ordinary things  He  had  done,  that  they  felt  there  was 
something  puzzling  about  Him,  and  for  the  sake  of 
putting  an  end  to  their  suspense  they  do  what  they 
can  to  get  Him  to  go  again  to  Jerusalem.  The  lever 
they  use  to  move  Him  is  a  taunt :  "  1/  these  works 
of  yours  are  genuine  miracles,  don't  hang  about  villages 
and  little  country  towns,  but  go  and  show  yourself  in 
the  capital.  No  one  who  is  really  confident  that  he 
has  a  claim  on  public  attention  wanders  about  in  solitary 
places,  but  repairs  to  the  most  crowded  haunts  of  men. 
Go  up  now  to  the  feast,  and  your  disciples  will  gather 
round  you,  and  your  claims  will  be  settled  once  for 
all" 

To  this  Jesus  replies  that  the  hour  for  such  a  pro- 
clamation of  Himself  has  not  yet  come.  That  hour 
is  to  come.  At  the  following  Passover  He  entered 
Jerusalem  in  the  manner  desired  by  His  brethren,  and 
the  result,  as  He  foresaw,  was  His  death.  As  yet  such 
a  demonstration  was  premature.  The  brothers  of  Jesus 
did  not  apprehend  the  virulence  of  hatred  which  Jesus 
aroused,  and  did  not  perceive  how  surely  His  death 
would  result  from  His  going  up  to  the  feast  as  the 
acknowledged  King  of  the  Galilaeans.  He  Himself  sees 
all  this  plainly,  and  therefore  declines  the  plan  of  opera- 
tion proposed  by  His  brothers ;  and  instead  of  going 


»ii.l  JESUS  DISCUSSED  IN  JERUSALEM.  94$ 

up  with  them  as  the  proclaimed  Messiah,  He  goes  up 
quietly  by  Himself  a  few  days  after.  To  go  up  as  His 
brothers'  nominee,  or  to  go  up  in  the  way  they  proposed, 
was  counter  to  the  whole  plan  of  His  life.  Their  ideas 
and  proposals  were  made  from  a  point  of  view  wholly 
different  from  His.  Very  often  we  can  do  at  our  own 
instance,  in  our  own  way  and  at  our  own  time,  what 
it  would  be  a  vast  mistake  to  do  at  the  instigation  of 
people  who  look  at  the  matter  differently  from  ourselves, 
and  have  quite  another  purpose  to  serve.  Jesus  could 
safely  do  without  display  what  He  could  not  do 
ostentatiously ;  and  He  could  do  as  His  Father's  servant 
what  He  could  not  do  at  the  whim  of  His  brothers. 

The  feast  to  which  He  thus  quietly  went  up  was  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles.  This  feast  was  a  kind  of  national 
harvest  home ;  and  consequently  in  appointing  it  God 
commanded  that  it  should  be  held  "  in  the  end  of  the 
year,  when  thou  hast  gathered  in  thy  labours  out  of 
the  field ; "  that  is  to  say,  in  the  end  of  the  natural  year, 
or  in  early  autumn,  when  the  farm  operations  finished 
one  rotation  and  began  a  new  series.  It  was  a  feast, 
therefore,  full  of  rejoicing.*  Every  Israelite  appeared 
in  holiday  attire,  bearing  in  his  hands  a  palm-branch, 
or  wearing  some  significant  emblem  of  earth's  fruitful- 
ness.  At  night  the  city  was  brilliantly  illuminated, 
especially  round  the  Temple,  in  which  great  lamps, 
used  only  on  these  occasions,  were  lit,  and  which 
possibly  occasioned  our  Lord's  remark  at  this  time,  as 
reported  in  the  following  chapter,  "  I  am  the  Light  of 
the  world."  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  when,  on 
the  last  day  of  the  feast,  He  stood  and  cried,  "  If  any 
man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me  and  drink,"  the  form 

'  A  mixture  of  religious  thanksgiving  and  unrestrained  social  hilaritf  , 
analogous  to  the  English  celebration  of  CbristmaSi 


246  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

of  his  invitation  was  moulded  by  one  of  the  custoini 
of  the  feast.  For  one  of  the  most  striking  features 
of  the  feast  was  the  drawing  of  water  in  a  golden 
vessel  from  the  pool  of  Siloam,  and  carrying  it  in  pro- 
cession to  the  Temple,  where  it  was  poured  out  with 
such  a  burst  of  triumph  from  the  trumpets  of  the 
Levites,  aided  by  the  Hallelujahs  of  the  people,  that  it 
became  a  common  Jewish  saying,  "He  who  has  not 
seen  the  rejoicing  at  the  pouring  out  of  the  water  from 
the  pool  of  Siloam  has  never  seen  rejoicing  in  his  life." 
This  pouring  out  of  the  water  before  God  seemed  to  be 
an  acknowledgment  of  His  goodness  in  watering  the 
corn-lands  and  pastures,  and  also  a  commemoration 
of  the  miraculous  supply  of  water  in  the  desert ;  while 
to  some  of  the  more  enlightened  it  bore  also  a  spiritual 
significance,  and  recalled  the  words  of  Isaiah,  "  With 
joy  shall  ye  draw  water  out  of  the  wells  of  salvation." 

But  this  feast  was  not  solely  a  celebration  of  the 
ingathering,  or  a  thanksgiving  for  the  harvest.  The 
name  of  it  reminds  us  that  another  feature  was  quite  as 
prominent.  In  its  original  institution  God  commanded, 
"  Ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  or  tabei  naclcs  seven  days , 
all  that  are  Israelites  born  shall  dwell  in  booths,"  the 
reason  being  added,  "  that  your  generations  may  know 
that  I  made  the  children  of  Israel  to  dwell  in  booths 
when  I  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  The 
particular  significance  of  the  Israelites  dwelling  in 
booths  seems  to  be  that  it  marked  their  deliverance 
from  a  hfe  of  bondage  to  a  hfe  of  freedom ;  it  reminded 
them  how  they  had  once  no  settled  habitation,  but  yet 
found  a  booth  in  the  desert  preferable  to  the  well- 
provided  residences  of  Egypt.  And  every  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  seemed  intended  to  recall  these  thoughts. 
In  the  midst  of  their  harvest,  at  the  end  of  the  year, 


viL]  JESUS  DISCUSSED  IN  JERUSALEM.  147 

when  they  were  once  more  laying  up  store  for  winter, 
and  when  every  one  was  reckoning  whether  it  would 
be  an  abundant  and  profitable  year  for  him  or  no,  they 
were  told  to  live  for  a  week  in  booths,  that  they  might 
think  of  that  period  in  their  fathers'  experience  when 
God  was  their  all,  when  they  had  no  provision  for  the 
morrow,  and  which  was  yet  the  most  triumphant  period 
of  their  history.  All  wealth,  all  distinctions  of  rank, 
all  separation  between  rich  and  poor,  was  for  a  while 
forgotten,  as  each  man  dwelt  in  his  little  green  hut  as 
well  sheltered  as  his  neighbour.  And  to  every  one 
was  suggested  the  thought,  that  let  the  coming  winter 
be  well  provided  or  ill  provided,  let  it  be  bleak  to  some 
and  bright  to  others,  at  bottom  the  provision  of  this 
world  is  to  all  alike  but  as  a  green  bough  between 
them  and  destitution  ;  but  that  all  alike,  reduce  them  if 
you  will  to  a  booth  which  has  neither  store  nor  couch 
in  it,  have  still  the  Most  High  God  for  their  deliverer, 
and  provider,  and  habitation.* 

Even  before  Jesus  appeared  at  this  feast  He  was 
the  subject  of  much  talk  and  exchange  of  opinions. 

I.  The  first  characteristic  of  the  popular  mind,  as 
exhibited  here  by  John,  is  its  subservience  to  authority. 
Those  who  had  a  favourable  opinion  of  Jesus  uttered  it 
with  reserve  and  caution,  "  for  fear  of  the  Jews  " — that 
is,  of  the  Jerusalem  Jews,  who  were  known  to  be 
adverse  to  His  claims.  And  the  authorities,  knowing 
the  subservience  of  the  people,  considered  it  a  sufficient 
reply  to  the  favourable  reports  brought  them  by  their 
own  officers,  to  say,  "  Have  any  of  the  rulers  or  of  the 
Pharisees  believed  on  Him  ? "  This  seems  a  very 
childish  mode  of  setthng  a  great  question,  and  we  are 

'  Psalm  xc,  I. 


a4S  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

ready  to  charge  the  Jews  with  a  singular  lack  of  inde- 
pendence; but  we  reflect  that  among  ourselves  great 
questions  are  settled  very  much  by  authority  still.  In 
politics  we  take  our  cue  from  one  or  two  newspapers, 
conducted  by  men  who  show  themselves  quite  fallible  ; 
and  in  matters  of  even  deeper  moment,  how  many  of 
us  can  say  we  have  thought  out  a  creed  for  ourselves, 
and  have  not  accepted  our  ideas  from  recognised 
teachers  ?  And  whether  these  teachers  be  the  accredited 
representatives  of  traditional  theology,  or  have  secured 
an  audience  by  their  departure  from  ordinary  views, 
we  have  in  our  own  conscience  a  surer  guide  to  the 
truth  about  Christ.  For  much  that  we  may  build  upon 
the  foundation  we  must  be  indebted  to  others  ;  but  for 
that  which  is  radical,  for  the  determination  of  the  relation 
we  ourselves  are  to  hold  to  Christ,  we  must  follow  no* 
authority  but  our  own  conscience. 

Our  equanimity  need  not,  then,  be  greatly  disturbed 
by  the  fact  that  so  many  of  the  rulers  of  public  opinion 
do  not  believe  in  Christ.  We  need  not  tremble  for 
Christianity  when  we  see  how  widely  extended  is  the 
opinion  that  miracles  are  the  fancy  of  a  credulous  age. 
We  need  not  be  over-anxious  or  altogether  downcast 
when  we  hear  philosophers  sublimely  talk  as  if  they 
had  seen  all  round  Christ,  and  taken  His  measure,  and 
rendered  satisfactory  account  of  the  pious  delusions  He 
Himself  was  subject  to,  and  the  groundless  hallucina- 
tions which  misled  His  followers  into  unheard-of  virtue, 
and  made  them  good  men  by  mistake.  Consider  the 
opinions  of  men  of  insight  and  of  power,  but  do  not  be 
overawed  by  them,  for  you  have  in  yourself  a  surer 
guide  to  truth.  Look  at  Christ  with  your  own  eyes, 
frankly  open  your  own  soul  before  Him,  and  trust  the 
impression  He  makes  upon  you. 


vii  JESUS  DISCUSSED  IN  JERUSALEM.  245 

2,  Again,  John  notices  the  perplexity  of  the  people. 
They  saw  that,  much  as  the  authorities  desired  to 
put  Him  out  of  the  way,  they  shrank  from  decisive 
measures.  And  from  this  they  naturally  gathered 
that  the  rulers  had  some  idea  that  this  was  the  Christ. 
Then  besides,  they  saw  the  miracles  Jesus  did,  and 
asked  whether  the  Christ  would  do  more  miracles. 
They  saw,  too,  that  He  was  *'  a  good  Man,"  and  on 
the  whole,  therefore,  they  were  disposed  to  look  favour- 
ably on  His  claims;  but  then  there  always  recurred 
the  thought,  "We  know  this  Man  whence  He  is; 
but  when  Christ  cometh,  no  man  knoweth  whence  He 
is."  They  thought  they  could  account  for  Christ  and 
trace  Him  to  His  origin ;  and  therefore  they  could  not 
believe  He  was  from  God.  This  is  the  common  diffi- 
culty. Men  find  it  difficult  to  believe  that  One  who 
was  really  born  on  earth  and  did  not  suddenly  appear, 
nobody  knew  whence,  can  in  any  peculiar  sense  be 
from  God.  They  dwell  upon  the  truly  human  nature 
of  Christ,  and  conceive  that  this  precludes  the  possi- 
bility of  His  being  from  God  in  any  sense  in  which 
we  are  not  from  God. 

To  this  perplexity  Jesus  addresses  Himself  in  the 
words  (ver.  28),  "  Me  you  do  in  a  sense  know,  and  also 
whence  I  come,  but  that  does  not  give  you  the  full 
knowledge  you  need,  for  it  is  not  of  Myself  I  am  come ; 
your  knowledge  of  Me  cannot  solve  your  perplexity, 
because  I  am  not  sent  by  Myself;  He  that  sent  Me  is 
the  real^  one,  and  Him  you  do  not  know.  I  know  Him 
because  I  am  from  Him,  and  He  hath  sent  Me."  That 
is  to  say :  Your  knowledge  of  Me  is  insufficient,  be- 
cause you  do  not,  through  Me,  recognise  God.     Your 


250  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

knowledge  of  Me  is  insufficient  so  long  as  you  construe 
Me  into  a  mere  earthly  product.  To  know  Me,  as  you 
know  Me,  is  not  enough ;  for  not  in  Myself  can  you 
find  the  originating  cause  of  what  I  am  and  what  I  do. 
You  must  go  behind  my  earthly  origin,  and  the  human 
appearance  which  you  know,  if  you  are  to  account  for 
My  presence  among  you,  and  for  My  conduct  and 
teaching.  It  matters  little  what  you  know  of  Me,  if 
through  Me  you  are  not  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
God.  He  is  the  real  One,  He  is  the  Supreme  Truth ; 
and  Him,  alas  1  you  do  not  know  while  you  profess  to 
know  Me. 

3.  John  notes  the  insufficient  tests  used  both  by 
the  people  and  by  the  authorities  for  ascertaining 
whether  Jesus  was  or  was  not  their  promised  King. 
The  tests  they  used  were  such  as  these,  "  Will  Christ 
do  more  miracles  ?  "  "  Will  He  come  from  the  same 
part  of  the  country  ?  "  and  so  forth.  Among  ourselves 
it  has  become  customary  to  speak  as  if  it  were  impossible 
to  find  or  apply  any  sufficient  test  to  the  claims  of 
Christ;  impossible  to  ascertain  whether  He  is,  in  a 
peculiar  sense,  Divine,  and  whether  we  can  absolutely 
trust  all  He  said,  and  accept  the  views  of  God  He 
cherished  and  proclaimed.  Certainly  Christ  Himself 
does  not  countenance  this  mode  of  speaking.  In  ail 
His  conversations  with  the  unbelieving  Jews  He  con- 
demned them  for  their  unbelief,  ascribed  it  to  moral 
defects,  and  persistently  maintained  that  it  was  within 
the  reach  of  any  man  to  ascertain  whether  He  was  true 
or  a  pretender.  There  is  a  class  of  expressions  which 
occur  in  this  Gospel  which  clearly  show  what  Jesus 
Himself  considered  to  be  the  root  of  unbelief.  To 
Pilate  He  says,  "  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth 
My  voice,"     To  the  Jews  He  says,  "  He  that  is  of  God, 


▼H.J  JESUS  DISCUSSED  IN  JERUSALEM.  •$! 

heareth  God's  words ;  ye  therefore  hear  them  not, 
because  ye  are  not  of  God."  And  again  in  this  seventh 
chapter,  "  If  any  man  is  desirous  to  do  the  will  of  God, 
he  will  know  of  My  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God,  or 
whether  I  speak  of  Myself."  All  these  statements 
convey  the  impression  that  Christ's  person  and  teach- 
ing will  uniformly  be  acceptable  to  those  who  love  the 
truth,  and  who  are  anxious  to  do  the  will  of  God. 

Faith  in  Christ  is  thus  represented  as  an  act  rather 
of  the  spiritual  nature  than  of  the  intellect,  and  as  the 
result  of  sympathy  with  the  truth  rather  than  of  critical 
examination  of  evidence.  A  painter  or  art-critic  familiar 
with  the  productions  of  great  artists  feels  himself  in- 
sulted if  you  offer  him  evidence  to  convince  him  of  the 
genuineness  of  a  work  of  art  over  and  above  the 
evidence  which  it  carries  in  itself,  and  which  to  him  is 
the  most  convincing  of  all  If  one  of  the  lost  books  of 
Tacitus  were  recovered,  scholars  would  not  judge  it  by 
any  account  that  might  be  given  of  its  preservation  and 
discovery,  but  would  say.  Let  us  see  it  and  read  it,  and 
we  will  very  soon  tell  you  whether  it  is  genuine  or  not. 
When  the  man  you  have  seen  every  day  for  years,  and 
whose  character  you  have  looked  into  under  the  strongest 
lights,  is  accused  of  dishonesty,  and  damaging  evidence 
is  brought  against  him,  does  it  seriously  disturb  your 
confidence  in  him?  Not  at  all.  No  evidence  can 
countervail  the  knowledge  gained  by  intercourse.  You 
know  the  man,  directly,  and  you  believe  in  him  without 
regard  to  what  other  persons  advance  in  his  favour 
or  against  him.  Christ  expects  acceptance  on  similar 
grounds.  Look  at  Him,  listen  to  Him,  pass  with  Him 
from  day  to  day  of  His  life,  and  say  whether  it  is 
possible  that  He  can  be  a  deceiver,  or  that  He  can  be 
deceived.     He   Himself  is  confident   that   those  who 


as»  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

seek  the  truth,  and  are  accustomed  to  acknowledge  and 
follow  the  truth  always,  will  follow  Him.  He  is  con- 
fident that  they  will  find  that  He  so  fits  in  with  what 
they  have  already  learnt,  that  naturally  and  instinctively 
they  will  accept  Him. 

It  is  at  the  point  in  which  all  men  are  interested  that 
Christ  appeals  to  us — at  the  point  of  life  or  conduct , 
and  He  says  that  whoever  truly  desires  to  do  God's 
will,  will  find  that  His  teaching  leads  him  right.  And 
if  men  would  only  acknowledge  Christ  in  this  re^pectj 
and  begin,  as  conscience  bids  them,  by  accepUng  Hia 
life  as  exhibiting  the  highest  rule  of  covi/'iuct,  they 
would  sooner  or  later  acknowledge  Him  ih  all.  A  man 
may  not  at  once  see  all  that  is  involved  ifl  the  fact  that 
Christ  exhibits,  as  no  one  else  exhibits,  the  will  of  God  ; 
but  if  He  will  but  acknowledge  Him  at  tkr  Teacher  of 
God's  will,  not  coming  to  Him  with  a  spirit  of  suspicion 
but  oi  earnest  desire  to  do  God's  wiil,  that  man  will 
become  a  convinced  follower  of  Christ.  There  are,  of 
course,  persons  of  a  sound  moral  disposition  who  get 
entangled  intellectually  in  perplesing  difficulties  about 
the  person  of  Christ  and  His  relation  to  God ;  but  if 
such  persons  are  humble — and  humility  is  a  virtue  of 
decisive  consequence — they  will,  by  virtue  of  their  ex- 
perience in  moral  questions,  and  by  their  practical 
knowledge  of  the  value  of  harmony  with  God,  prize  the 
teaching  of  Christ,  and  recognise  its  superiority,  and 
submit  themselves  to  its  influence. 

It  was  on  the  last  day  of  the  feast  that  our  Lord 
made  the  most  explicit  revelation  of  Himself  to  the 
people.  For  seven  days  the  people  dwelt  in  their 
booths;  on  the  eighth  day  they  celebrated  their  entrance 
into  the  promised  land,  forsook  their  booths,  and,  as  it 
is  said  in  the  end  of  the  chapter,  "  went  every  man  to 


viL]  JESUS  DISCUSSED  IN  JERUSALEM.  253 

his  own  house**  But  on  this  great  day  of  the  feast 
no  water  was  drawn  from  the  pool  of  Siloam.  On 
each  of  the  preceding  days  the  golden  pitcher  was  in 
request,  and  the  procession  that  followed  the  priest 
who  carried  it  praised  God  who  had  brought  water 
out  of  the  rock  in  the  desert ;  but  on  the  eighth  day, 
commemorating  their  entrance  into  "  a  land  of  springs 
of  water,"  this  rite  of  drawing  the  water  ceased. 

But  the  true  worshippers  among  these  Israelites  had 
been  seeing  a  spiritual  meaning  in  the  water,  and  had 
been  conscious  of  an  uneasy  feeling  of  thirst  still  in 
the  midst  of  these  Temple  services — an  uneasy  ques- 
tioning whether  even  yet  Israel  had  passed  the  thirsty 
desert,  and  had  received  the  full  gift  God  had  meant 
to  give.  There  were  thinking  men  and  thirsty  souls 
then  as  there  are  now ;  and  to  these,  who  stood 
perhaps  a  little  aside,  and  looked  half  in  compassion, 
half  in  envy,  at  the  merry-making  of  the  rest,  it  seemed 
a  significant  fact  that,  in  the  Temple  itself,  with  all  its 
grandeur  and  skilful  appliances,  there  was  yet  no  living 
fountain  to  quench  the  thirst  of  men — a  significant  fact 
that  to  find  water  the  priest  had  to  go  outside  the 
gorgeous  Temple  to  the  modest  "  waters  of  Siloah  that 
go  softly."  All  through  the  feast  these  men  wondered 
morning  by  morning  when  the  words  of  Joel  were  to 
come  true,  when  it  should  come  to  pass  that  "  a  foun- 
tain should  come  forth  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  or 
when  that  great  and  deep  river  should  begin  to  flow 
which  Ezekiel  saw  in  vision  issuing  from  the  threshold 
of  the  Lord's  house,  and  waxing  deeper  and  wider  as 
it  flowed.  And  now  once  more  the  last  day  of  the 
feast  had  come,  the  water  was  no  longer  drawn,  and 
yet  no  fountain  had  burst  up  in  the  Temple  itself,  their 
souls  were  yet  perplexed,  unsatisfied,  craving,  athirst, 


Sf4  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

when  suddenly,  as  if  in  answer  to  their  half-formed 
thoughts  and  longings,  a  dear,  assured,  authoritative 
voice  passed  through  their  ear  to  their  inmost  soul: 
*'  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me  and  drink. 
He  that  believeth  on  Me,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow 
rivers  of  living  water." 

In  these  words  Christ  proclaims  that  He  is  the  great 
Temple-fountain  ;  or  rather,  that  He  is  the  true  Temple, 
and  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeding  from  Him,  and 
dwelling  in  men,  is  the  life-giving  fountain.*  All  the 
cravings  after  a  settled  and  eternal  state,  all  the  long- 
ings for  purity  and  fellowship  with  the  Highest,  which 
the  Temple  services  rather  quickened  than  satisfied, 
Christ  says  He  will  satisfy.  The  Temple  service  had 
been  to  them  as  a  screen  on  which  the  shadows  of 
things  spiritual  were  thrown ;  but  they  longed  to  see 
the  realities  face  to  face,  to  have  God  revealed,  to  know 
the  very  truth  of  things,  and  set  foot  on  eternal  verity. 
This  thirst  is  felt  by  all  men  whose  whole  nature  is 
alive,  whose  experience  has  shaken  them  out  of  easy 
contentment  with  material  prosperity;  they  thirst  for 
a  life  which  does  not  so  upbraid  and  mock  them  as 
their  own  life  does ;  they  thirst  to  be  able  to  live,  so 
that  the  one  half  of  their  life  shall  not  be  condemned 
by  the  other  half;  they  thirst  to  be  once  for  all  in  the 
"ampler  ether"  of  happy  and  energetic  existence,  not 
looking  through  the  bars  and  fumbling  at  the  lock. 
This  thirst  and  all  legitimate  cravings  we  feel  Christ 
boldly  and  explicitly  promises  to  satisfy;  nay  more, 
all  illegitimate  cravings,  all  foolish  discontent,  all  vicious 
dissatisfaction  with  life,  all  morbid  thirst  that  is  rapidly 
becoming  chronic  disease  in  us,  all  weak   and   false 

*  On  ver.  39  see  p.  48  of  this  voluma 


viij  JESUS  DISCUSSED  IN  JERUSALEM.  2$$ 

views  of  life,  He  will  rid  us  of,  and  give  us  entrance 
into  the  life  that  God  lives  and  imparts — into  pure, 
healthy,  hopeful  life. 

Christ  stands  and  cries  still  in  the  midst  of  a  thirsting 
world :  "  Whosoever  will  let  him  take  of  the  water  of 
life  freely."  Has  His  voice  become  so  familiar  that  it 
has  lost  all  significance  ?  For  all  who  can  hear  and 
believe,  His  truth  remains.  There  is  life — abundant 
life  for  us.  Drink  of  any  other  fountain,  and  you  only 
intensify  thirst,  and  make  life  more  difficult,  spending 
energy  without  renewing  it.  Live  in  Christ  and  you 
live  in  God.  You  have  found  the  centre,  the  heart,  the 
eternal  life.  As  Christ  stood  and  cried  to  the  people 
He  was  conscious  of  power  to  impart  to  them  a  freshly 
welling  spring  of  life — a  life  that  would  overflow  for 
the  strengthening  and  gladdening  of  others  besides 
themselves.  He  has  the  same  consciousness  to-day ; 
the  deep,  living  benefits  He  confers  are  as  open  to  all 
ages  as  the  sunshine  and  the  air ;  there  is  no  necessity 
binding  any  one  soul  to  feel  that  life  is  a  failure,  an 
empty,  disappointing  husk,  serving  no  good  purpose, 
bringing  daily  fresh  misery  and  deeper  hopelessness, 
a  thing  perhaps  manfully  to  fight  our  way  through  but 
certainly  not  to  rejoice  in.  If  any  one  has  such  views 
of  life  it  is  because  he  has  not  honestly,  believingly, 
and  humbly  responded  to  Christ's  v/ord  and  come  to 
Him. 


XVIL 
THE  WOMAN  TAKEN  IN  ADULTER% 


17 


"  And  they  went  every  man  unto  his  own  house  :  but  Jesus  went  unto 
the  mount  of  Olives.  And  early  in  the  morning  He  came  again  into 
the  temple,  and  all  the  people  came  unto  Him  ;  and  He  sat  down,  and 
taught  them.  And  the  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  bring  a  woman  taken 
in  adultery  ;  and  having  set  her  in  the  midst,  they  say  unto  Him, 
Master,  this  woman  hath  been  taken  in  adultery,  in  the  very  act.  Now 
in  the  law  Moses  commanded  us  to  stone  such ;  what  then  sayest  Thou 
of  her?  And  this  they  said,  tempting  Him,  that  they  might  have 
whereof  to  accuse  Him.  But  Jesus  stooped  down,  and  with  His  finger 
wrote  on  the  ground.  But  when  they  continued  asking  Him,  He  lifted 
up  Himself,  and  said  unto  them.  He  that  is  without  sin  among  you,  let 
him  first  cast  a  stone  at  her.  And  again  He  stooped  down,  and  with  His 
finger  wrote  on  the  ground.  And  V'sy.  when  they  heard  it,  went  out 
one  by  one,  beginning  from  the  eldest,  even  unto  the  last  :  and  Jesus 
was  left  alone,  and  the  woman,  where  she  was,  in  the  midst.  And 
Jesus  lifted  up  Himself,  and  said  unto  her,  Woman,  where  are  they  ? 
did  no  man  condemn  thee?  And  she  said,  No  man,  Lord,  And  Jesus 
said.  Neither  do  1  condemn  thee  :  go  thy  way  ;  from  henceforth  sin  no 
more." — ^JoHN  vii.  S3-viii.  1 1. 


■IS 


XVII. 

THE  WOMAN  TAKEN  IN  ADULTERY. 

THIS  paragraph,  from  chap.  vii.  S3-viii.  II  inclu- 
sive, is  omitted  from  modern  editions  of  the 
Greek  text  on  the  authority  of  the  best  manuscripts. 
Internal  evidence  is  also  decidedly  a f^ainst  its  admission. 
The  incident  may  very  well  Ijave  happened,  and  it  bears 
every  appearance  of  being  accurately  reported.  We 
are  glad  to  have  so  chan.ctenstic  an  exposure  of  the 
malignity  of  the  Jews,  and  a  view  of  our  Lord  which, 
although  from  a  novel  standpoint,  is  yet  quite  con- 
sistent with  other  representations  of  His  manner  and 
spirit.  But  here  it  is  out  ot  place.  No  piece  of  literary 
work  is  so  compact  and  homogeneous  as  this  Gospel. 
And  an  incident  such  as  this,  which  would  be  quite  in 
keeping  with  the  matter  of  the  synoptical  Gospels,  is 
felt  rather  to  interrupt  than  to  forward  the  purpose  of 
John  to  record  the  most  characteristic  and  important 
self-manifestations  of  Christ. 

But  as  the  paragraph  is  here,  and  has  been  here 
from  very  early  times,  and  as  it  is  good  Gospel 
material,  it  may  be  well  briefly  to  indicate  its  signifi- 
cance. 

I.  First,  it  reveals  the  unscrupulous  malignity  of  the 
leading  citizens,  the  educated  and  religious  men,  "  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees."     They  brought  to  Jesus  the 

aS9 


atio  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

guilty  woman,  "  tempting  Him  "  (ver.  6)  ;  not  because 
they  were  deeply  grieved  or  even  shocked  at  her  con- 
duct; nay,  so  little  were  they  impressed  with  that 
aspect  of  the  case,  that,  with  a  cold-blooded  indelicacy 
which  is  well-nigh  incredible,  they  actually  used  her 
guilt  to  further  their  own  designs  against  Jesus.  They 
conceived  that  by  presenting  her  before  Him  for  judg- 
ment, He  would  be  transfixed  on  one  or  other  horn  of 
the  following  dilemma :  If  He  said.  Let  the  woman  die 
in  accordance  with  the  law  of  Moses,  they  would  have 
a  fair  ground  on  which  they  could  frame  a  dangerous 
accusation  against  Him,  and  would  inform  Pilate  that 
this  new  King  was  actually  adjudging  life  and  death. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  He  bid  them  let  the  woman  go, 
then  He  could  be  branded  before  the  people  as 
traversing  the  law  of  Moses. 

Underhand  scheming  of  this  kind  is  of  course  always 
to  be  condemned.  Setting  traps  and  digging  pitfalls 
are  illegitimate  methods  even  of  slaughtering  wild 
animals,  and  the  sportsman  disdains  them.  But  he 
who  introduces  such  methods  into  human  affairs,  and 
makes  his  business  one  concatenated  plot,  does  not 
deserve  to  be  a  member  of  society  at  all,  but  should  be 
banished  to  the  unreclaimed  wilderness.  These  men 
posed  as  sticklers  for  the  Law,  as  the  immovably 
orthodox,  and  yet  had  not  the  common  indignation  at 
crime  which  would  have  saved  them  from  making  a 
handle  of  this  woman's  guilt.  No  wonder  that  their 
unconscious  and  brazen  depravity  should  have  filled 
Jesus  with  wonder  and  embarrassment,  so  that  for  a 
space  He  could  not  utter  a  word,  but  could  only  fix 
His  eyes  on  the  ground. 

Making  all  allowance  for  the  freedom  of  Oriental 
manners  from  some  modern  refinements,  one  cannot 


viusa-^iii-"-]    TTfZ  WOMAN  TAKEN  IN  ADULTERY.    a6l 

but  feel  some  surprise  that  such  a  scene  should  be 
possible  on  the  streets  of  Jerusalem.  It  reveals  a 
hardened  and  insensible  condition  of  public  opinion 
which  one  is  scarcely  prepared  for.  And  yet  it  may 
well  be  questioned  whether  it  was  a  more  ominous  state 
of  public  sentiment  than  that  in  the  midst  of  which  we 
are  living,  when  scenes,  in  character,  if  not  in  appear- 
ance similar  to  this,  are  constantly  reproduced  by  our 
novelists  and  play-writers,  who  harp  upon  this  one  vile 
string,  professing,  like  these  Pharisees,  that  they  drag 
such  things  before  the  public  gaze  for  the  sake  of 
exposing  vice  and  making  it  hateful,  but  really  because 
they  know  that  there  is  a  large  constituency  to  whom 
they  can  best  appeal  by  what  is  sensational,  and  pru- 
rient, and  immoral,  though  to  the  masculine  and  healthy 
mind  disgusting.  Many  of  our  modern  writers  might 
take  a  hint  from  our  German  forefathers,  who,  in  their 
barbarian  days,  held  that  some  vices  were  to  be 
punished  in  public,  but  others  buried  quickly  in  oblivion, 
and  who,  therefore,  punished  crime  of  this  sort  by. 
binding  it  in  a  wicker  crate,  and  sinking  it  in  a  pit  of 
mud  out  of  sight  for  ever.  We  certainly  cannot  con- 
gratulate ourselves  on  our  advancement  in  moral 
perception  so  long  as  we  pardon  to  persons  of  genius 
and  rank  what  would  be  loathed  in  persons  of  no  bril- 
liant parts  and  in  our  own  circles.  When  such  things 
are  thrust  upon  us,  either  in  literature  or  elsewhere,  we 
have  always  the  resource  of  our  Lord ;  we  can  turn 
away,  as  though  we  heard  not ;  we  can  refuse  to  inquire 
further  into  such  matters,  and  turn  away  our  eyes  from 
them. 

Few  positions  could  be  more  painful  to  a  pure- 
minded  man  than  that  in  which  our  Lord  was  placed. 
What  hope  could  there  be  for  a  world  where  the  reli- 


a6j  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

gious  and  righteous  had  became  even  more  detestable 
than  the  coarse  sin  they  proposed  to  punish  ?  No 
wonder  our  Lord  was  silent,  silent  in  sheer  disturbance 
of  mind  and  sympathetic  shame.  He  stooped  down 
and  wrote  on  the  ground,  as  one  who  does  not  wish  to 
answer  a  question  will  begin  drawing  lines  on  the 
ground  with  his  foot  or  his  stick.  His  silence  was  a 
broad  hint  to  the  accusers ;  but  they  take  it  for  mere 
embarrassment,  and  all  the  more  eagerly  press  their 
question.  They  think  Him  at  a  loss  when  they  see 
Him  with  hanging  head  tracing  figures  on  the  ground ; 
they  fancy  their  plot  is  successful,  and,  flushed  with 
expected  victory,  they  close  in  and  lay  their  hands  on 
his  shoulder  as  He  stoops,  and  demand  an  answer. 
And  so  He  lifts  Himself  up,  and  they  have  their 
answer :  "  He  that  is  without  sin  among  you,  let  him 
first  cast  a  stone  at  her."  They  fall  into  the  pit  they 
have  digged. 

This  answer  was  not  a  mere  clever  retort  such  as 
a  self-possessed  antagonist  can  always  command.  It 
was  not  a  mere  dexterous  evasion.  What  these  scribes 
would  say  of  it  to  one  another  afterwards,  or  with 
what  nervous  anxiety  they  would  altogether  avoid  the 
subject,  we  can  scarcely  conjecture  ;  but  probably  none 
of  them  would  affect  to  say,  as  has  since  been  said,  that 
it  was  a  confounding  of  things  that  differ,  that  by 
demanding  that  every  one  who  brought  an  accusation, 
against  another  should  himself  be  open  to  no  accusation 
Jesus  subverted  the  whole  administration  of  law.  For 
what  criminal  could  fear  condemnation,  if  his  doom 
were  to  be  su  spended  until  a  judge  whose  heart  is  as 
pure  as  his  ermine  be  found  who  may  pronounce  it  ? 
Might  not  these  scribes  have  replied  that  they  were 
quite  aware  that  they  themselves  were  guilty  mea,  but 


TO.S3-viii.li.]    THE  WOMAN  TAKEN  IN  ADULTERY.    463 

no  law  could  lay  hold  of  any  outward  actions  of  theirs, 
and  that  they  were  there  not  to  talk  of  their  relation 
to  God  or  of  purity  of  heart,  but  to  vindicate  the 
outward  purity  of  the  morals  of  their  city  by  bringing 
to  judgment  this  offender  ?  They  did  not  thus  bandy 
words  with  our  Lord,  and  they  could  not ;  because  they 
knew  that  it  was  not  He  who  was  trying  to  confound 
private  morality  and  the  administration  of  law  but 
themselves.  They  had  brought  this  woman  to  Jesus 
as  if  He  were  a  magistrate,  though  often  enough  He 
had  declined  to  interfere  with  civil  affairs  and  with  the 
ordinary  administration  of  justice.  And  in  His  answer 
He  still  shows  the  same  spirit  of  non-interference. 
He  does  not  pronounce  upon  the  woman's  guilt  at  all. 
Had  they  taken  her  before  their  ordinary  courts  He 
would  have  raised  no  word  in  her  favour;  did  her 
husband  after  this  prosecute  her  he  can  have  feared  no 
interference  on  the  part  of  Jesus.  His  answer  is  the 
answer  not  of  one  pronouncing  from  a  judgment-seat, 
nor  of  a  legal  counsel,  but  of  a  moral  and  spiritual 
teacher.  And  in  this  capacity  He  had  a  perfect  right 
to  say  what  He  did.  We  have  no  right  to  say  to  an 
official  who  in  condemning  culprits  or  in  prosecuting 
them  is  simply  discharging  a  public  duty,  "See  that 
your  own  hands  be  clean,  and  your  own  heart  pure, 
before  you  condemn  another,"  but  we  have  a  perfect 
right  to  silence  a  private  individual  who  is  officiously 
and  not  officially  exposing  another's  guilt,  by  bidding 
him  remember  that  he  has  a  beam  in  his  own  eye  which 
he  must  first  be  rid  of,  a  stain  on  his  own  hands  he 
must  first  wash  out.  The  public  prosecutor  or  judge 
is  a  mere  mouthpiece  and  representative  among  us  of 
absolute  justice  ;  in  him  we  see  not  his  own  private 
character  at  all,   but  the  purity  and  rectitude  of  law 


a«4  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


and  order.  But  these  scribes  were  acting  as  private 
individuals,  and  came  to  Jesus  professing  that  they 
were  so  shocked  with  this  woman's  sin  that  they 
wished  the  long-disused  punishment  of  stoning  to  be 
revived.  And  therefore  Jesus  had  not  only  a  perfect 
right,  as  any  other  man  would  have  had,  to  say  to  them, 
"  Thou  that  sayest  a  man  should  not  commit  adultery, 
dost  thou  commit  adultery  ?  "  but  also,  as  the  searcher 
of  hearts,  as  He  who  knew  what  is  in  man,  He  could 
risk  the  woman's  life  on  the  chance  of  there  being  a 
single  man  of  them  who  was  really  as  shocked  as  he 
pretended  to  be,  who  was  prepared  to  say  he  had  in 
his  own  soul  no  taint  of  the  sin  he  was  loudly  pro- 
fessing his  abhorrence  of,  who  was  prepared  to  say, 
Death  is  due  to  this  sin,  and  then  to  accept  such 
proportionate  punishment  as  would  fall  to  his  own 
share. 

Having  given  His  answer  His  eye  again  falls.  His 
former  stooping  attitude  is  resumed.  He  does  not 
mean  to  awe  them  by  a  defiant  look ;  He  lets  their  own 
conscience  do  the  work.  But  that  their  conscience 
should  have  produced  such  a  result  deserves  our 
attention.  The  woman,  when  she  heard  His  answer, 
may  for  a  moment  have  trembled  and  shrunk  together, 
expecting  the  crashing  blow  of  the  first  stone.  Could 
she  expect  that  these  Pharisees,  some  of  them  at  least 
good  men,  were  all  involved  somehow  in  her  sin, 
tainted  in  heart  with  the  pollution  that  had  wrought 
such  destruction  in  herself,  or  supposing  they  were  so 
tainted,  did  they  know  it ;  or  supposing  they  knew  it, 
would  they  not  be  ashamed  to  own  it  in  the  faf.e  of 
the  surrounding  crowd;  would  they  not  sacrifice  her 
life  rather  than  their  own  character  ?  But  every  man 
waited  for  some  other  to  lift  the  first  stone ;  every  mao 


TiLSS-Tiitii.]    THE  WOMAN  TAKEN  IN  ADULTERY.    265 

thought  that  some  one  of  their  number  would  be  pure 
enough  and  bold  enough,  if  not  to  throw  the  first  stone, 
at  least  to  assert  that  he  fulfilled  the  condition  of  doing 
so  that  Jesus  had  laid  down.  None  was  willing  to  put 
himself  forward  to  be  searched  by  the  eyes  of  the 
crowd,  and  to  be  exposed  to  the  still  more  trying  judg- 
ment of  Jesus,  and  to  risk  the  possibility  of  His,  in 
some  more  definite  way,  revealing  his  past  life.  And 
so  they  edged  their  way  out  through  the  crowd  from 
before  Him,  each  desiring  to  have  no  more  to  do  with 
the  business;  the  oldest  not  so  old  as  to  forget  his 
sin,  the  youngest  not  daring  to  say  he  was  not  already 
corrupt. 

This  reveals  two  things,  the  amount  of  unascertained 
guilt  every  man  carries  with  him,  guilt  that  he  is  not 
distinctly  conscious  of,  but  that  a  Httle  shake  awakens, 
and  that  weakens  him  all  through  his  life  in  ways  that 
he  may  be  unable  to  trace. 

Further,  this  encounter  of  Jesus  with  the  leading  men 
gives  significance  to  His  subsequent  challenge  :  "  Which 
of  you  convinceth  Me  of  sin?"  He  had  shown  them 
how  easy  it  was  to  convict  the  guilty ;  but  the  very 
ease  and  boldness  with  which  He  had  touched  their 
conscience  convinced  them  His  own  was  pure.  In 
a  society  honeycombed  with  vice  He  stood  perfect, 
untouched  by  evil. 

This  searching  purity,  this  stainless  mirror,  the 
woman  felt  it  more  difficult  to  face  than  the  accusing 
scribes.  Alone  with  Him  who  had  so  easily  unmasked 
their  wickedness,  she  feels  that  now  she  has  to  do  with 
something  much  more  awful  than  the  accusations  of 
men — the  actual  irrevocable  sin.  There  was  no  voice 
now  accusing  her,  no  hand  laid  in  arrest  upon  her. 
Why  does  she  not  go?     Because,  now  that  others  are 


266  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

silent,  her  own  conscience  speaks ;  now  that  her  accusers 
are  silenced,  she  must  listen  to  Him  whose  purity  has 
saved  her.  The  presence  among  us  of  a  true  and  perfect 
human  holiness  in  the  person  of  Christ,  that  is  the  true 
touchstone  of  character ;  and  he  who  does  not  feel  that 
this  is  what  actually  judges  all  his  own  ways  and 
actions,  has  but  a  dim  apprehension  of  what  human  life 
is — of  its  dignity,  its  responsibilities,  its  risks,  its  reality. 
Our  sin,  no  doubt,  hems  us  round  with  a  thousand  dis- 
abilities, and  fears,  and  anxieties  in  this  world,  often 
dreadful  to  bear  as  the  shame  of  this  woman ;  there 
gradually  gathers  round  us  a  brood  of  mischiefs  we 
have  given  birth  to  by  overstepping  God's  law,  a  brood 
that  throngs  our  steps,  and  makes  a  peaceful  and  happy 
life  impossible.  Other  men  come  to  recognise  some  of 
our  inrirmities,  and  we  feel  the  depressing  influence  of 
their  unfavourable  judgment,  and  in  the  secresy  of  our 
own  self-reflection  we  think  meanly  of  ourselves  ;  but 
this,  overwhelming  as  it  sometimes  becomes,  is  not  the 
worst  of  sin.  Were  all  these  evil  consequences  abated 
or  removed,  were  we  as  free  from  accusing  voices, 
either  from  the  reflected  judgment  of  the  world  or  from 
our  own  memory,  as  that  woman  when  she  stood  alone 
in  the  midst,  yet  there  v/ould  then  only  the  more  clearly 
emerge  into  view  the  essential  and  inseparable  evil  of 
sin,  the  actual  breach  between  us  and  holiness.  The 
accusation  and  misery  which  sin  brings  generally  either 
make  us  feel  that  we  are  expiating  sin  by  what  we 
suffer,  or  put  us  into  a  self-defensive  attitude.  It  is 
when  Jesus  lifts  His  true  eye  to  meet  ours  that  the 
heart  sinks  humbled,  and  recognises  that  apart  from  all 
punishment  and  in  itself  sin  is  sin,  an  injury  to  God's 
love,  a  grievous  wrong  to  our  own  humanity.  In  the 
attitude  of  Christ  towards  sin  and  the  sinner  there  is 


TO.53-viu.li.]    THE  WOMAN  TAKEN  IN  ADULTERY.    aS"} 

an  exposure  of  the  real  nature  of  sin  which  makes  an 
ineffaceable  impression. 

But  what  will  Jesus  do  with  this  woman  thus  left  on 
His  hands  ?  Will  He  not  visit  her  with  punishment, 
and  so  assert  His  superiority  to  the  accusers  who  had 
slunk  away  ?  He  shows  His  superiority  in  a  much 
more  real  fashion.  He  sees  that  now  the  woman  is 
self-condemned,  lies  under  that  condemnation  in  which 
alone  there  is  hope,  and  which  alone  leads  to  good.  She 
could  not  misunderstand  the  significance  of  her  acquittal. 
Her  surprise  must  only  have  deepened  her  gratitude. 
He  who  had  stood  her  friend  and  brought  her  through 
so  critical  a  passage  in  her  history  could  scarcely  be 
forgotten.  And  yet,  considering  the  net  she  had  thrown 
around  herself,  could  our  Lord  say  "  Sin  no  more  "  with 
any  hope  ?  He  knew  what  she  was  going  back  to — a 
blighted  home-life,  a  life  full  now  of  perplexity,  of 
regret,  of  suspicion,  probably  of  ill-usage,  of  contempt, 
of  everything  that  makes  men  and  women  bitter  and 
drives  them  on  to  sin.  Yet  He  implies  that  the  legiti- 
mate result  of  forgiveness  is  renunciation  of  sin.  Others 
might  expect  her  to  sin ;  He  expected  her  to  abandon 
sin.  If  the  love  shown  us  in  forgiveness  is  no  barrier 
to  sin,  it  is  because  we  have  not  been  in  earnest  as  yet 
about  our  sin,  and  forgiveness  is  but  a  name.  Do  we 
need  an  external  scene  such  as  that  before  us  as  the 
setting  which  may  enable  us  to  believe  that  we  are 
sinners,  and  that  there  is  forgiveness  for  us?  The 
entrance  to  life  is  through  forgiveness.  Possibly  we 
have  sought  forgiveness;  but  if  there  follows  us  no 
serious  estimate  of  sin,  no  fruitful  remembrance  of  the 
holiness  of  Him  who  forgave  us,  then  our  severance 
from  sin  will  last  only  until  we  meet  the  first  substantial 
temptation. 


268  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

We  do  not  know  what  became  of  this  woman,  but 
she  had  an  opportunity  of  regarding  Jesus  with  re- 
verence and  affection,  and  thus  of  bringing  a  saving 
influence  into  her  life.  This  scene,  in  which  He  was 
the  chief  figure,  must  always  have  remained  the  most 
vivid  picture  in  her  memory;  and  the  more  she  thought 
of  it  the  more  clearly  must  she  have  seen  how  different 
He  was  from  all  besides.  And  unless  in  our  hearts 
Christ  finds  a  place,  there  is  no  other  sufficient  purify- 
ing influence.  We  may  be  convinced  He  is  all  He 
claims  to  be,  we  may  believe  He  isi  sent  to  save,  and 
that  He  can  save ;  but  all  this  belief  may  be  without 
any  cleansing  effect  upon  us.  What  is  wanted  is  an 
attachment,  a  real  love  that  will  prompt  us  always  to 
regard  His  will,  and  to  make  our  life  a  part  of  His. 
It  is  our  likings  that  have  led  us  astray,  and  it  is  by 
new  likings  implanted  within  us  that  we  can  be  restored. 
So  long  as  our  knowledge  of  Christ  is  in  our  head  only, 
it  may  profit  us  a  little,  but  it  will  not  make  new 
creatures  of  us.  To  accomplish  that.  He  must  com- 
mand our  heart  He  must  control  and  move  what  is 
most  influential  within  us;  there  must  arise  in  us  a 
real  and  ruling  enthusiasm  for  Him. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  chief  lesson  taught  by  this 
incident  is  that  the  best  way  to  reform  society  is  to 
reform  ourselves.  There  is  of  course  a  great  deal  done 
in  our  own  day  to  reclaim  the  vicious,  to  succour  the 
poor,  and  so  on ;  and  nothing  is  to  be  said  against  these 
efforts  when  they  are  the  outcome  of  a  humble  and 
sympathising  charity.  But  they  are  very  often  adul- 
terated with  a  spirit  of  condemnation  and  a  sense  of 
superiority,  which  on  closer  inspection  is  found  to  be 
unjust.  These  scribes  and  Pharisees,  when  they 
dragged  this  woman  before  Jesus,  felt  themselves  on 


viLS3-viii".]     THE  WOMAN  TAKEN  IN  ADULTERY.    269 

quite  another  platform  than  that  which  she  occupied ; 
but  a  word  from  Christ  convinced  them  how  hollow 
this  self-righteous  spirit  was.  He  made  them  feel  that 
they  too  were  sinners  even  as  she,  and  none  of  them 
was  sufficiently  hardened  to  lift  a  stone  against  her. 
This  is  creditable  to  the  Pharisees.  There  are  many 
among  us  who  would  very  quickly  have  lifted  the  stone. 
Even  while  striving  to  reclaim  the  drunkard,  for  ex- 
ample, they  arraign  him  with  an  implacable  ferocity 
that  shows  they  are  quite  unconscious  of  being  sharers 
in  his  sin.  If  you  challenged  them,  they  would  clear 
themselves  by  vehemently  protesting  that  they  had  not 
touched  strong  drink  for  years ;  but  do  they  not  con- 
sider that  the  almost  universal  intemperance  of  the 
lowest  class  in  society  has  a  far  deeper  root  than  indi- 
vidual appetite  ;  that  it  is  rooted  in  the  whole  miserable 
condition  of  that  class,  and  cannot  be  cured  till  the 
luxuries  of  the  rich  are  by  some  means  sacrificed  for 
the  bitter  need  of  the  poor,  and  the  rational  enjoyments 
which  save  the  well-to-do  from  coarse  and  open  vice 
are  put  within  reach  of  the  whole  population  ?  Poverty, 
and  the  necessity  it  entails  of  being  content  with  a 
wage  which  barely  keeps  in  life,  are  not  the  sole  roots 
of  vice,  but  they  are  roots ;  and  so  long  as  we  ourselves, 
in  common  with  the  society  in  which  we  live,  are  in- 
volved in  the  guilt  of  upholding  a  social  condition  which 
tempts  to  every  kind  of  iniquity,  we  dare  not  cast  the 
first  stone  at  the  drunkard,  the  thief,  or  even  their  more 
sunken  associates.  No  one  man,  and  no  one  class,  is 
more  guilty  than  another  in  this  great  blot  on  our 
Christianity.  Society  is  guilty;  but  as  members  who 
happen  by  the  accident  of  our  birth  to  have  enjoyed 
advantages  saving  us  from  much  temptation  which  we 
know  we  could  not  have  stood,  we  must  learn  ai  xeast 


J70  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

to  consider  those  who  in  a  very  real  sense  are  sacrificed 
for  us.  Among  certain  savage  tribes,  when  a  chiefs 
house  is  built,  slaughtered  slaves  are  laid  in  pits  as  its 
foundation ;  the  structure  of  our  vaunted  civilisation 
has  a  very  similar  basement. 

Still  it  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  features  of  present- 
day  Christianity  that  men  are  becoming  sensible  that 
they  are  not  mere  individuals,  but  are  m-embers  of  a 
society ;  and  that  they  must  bear  the  shame  of  the 
existing  condition  of  things  in  society.  Intelligent 
Christian  men  now  feel  that  the  saving  of  their  own 
souls  is  not  enough,  and  that  they  cannot  with  com- 
placency rest  satisfied  with  their  own  happy  condition 
and  prospects  if  the  society  to  which  they  belong  is  in 
a  state  of  degradation  and  misery.  It  is  by  the  growth 
of  this  sympathetic  shame  that  reformation  on  a  great 
scale  will  be  brought  about.  It  is  by  men  learning  to 
see  in  all  misery  and  vice  their  own  share  of  guilt  that 
society  will  gradually  be  leavened.  To  those  who  can- 
not own  their  connection  with  their  fellow-men  in  any 
such  sense,  to  those  who  are  quite  satisfied  if  they 
themselves  are  comfortable,  I  do  not  know  what  can 
be  said.  They  break  themselves  off  from  the  social 
body,  and  accept  the  fate  of  the  amputated  limb. 


XVIII. 
CHRIST  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE   WORLD. 


tji 


"Again  therefore  Jesos  spake  onto  them,  saying,  1  am  the  tight 
of  the  world  :  he  that  foUoweth  Me  shall  not  walk  in  the  darkness, 
bat  shall  have  the  light  of  life.  The  Pharisees  therefore  said  unto 
Him,  Thou  bearest  witness  of  Thyself;  Thy  witness  is  not  true. 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Even  if  I  bear  witness  of  Myself, 
My  witness  is  true ;  for  I  know  whence  I  came,  and  whither  I  go  : 
but  ye  know  not  whence  I  come,  or  whither  I  go.  Ye  judge  after 
the  flesh  ;  I  judge  no  man.  Yea  and  if  I  judge.  My  judgement  is 
true  ;  for  I  am  not  alone,  but  I  and  the  Father  that  sent  Me.  Yea 
and  in  your  law  it  is  written,  that  the  witness  of  two  men  is  true.  I 
am  He  that  beareth  witness  of  Myself,  and  the  Father  that  sent  Me 
beareth  witness  of  Me.  They  said  therefore  unto  Him  Where  is 
Thy  Father  ?  Jesus  answered.  Ye  know  neither  Me,  nor  My  Father  t 
if  ye  knew  M^  ye  would  know  My  Father  also." — John  viiL  12-19. 


■M 


XVIIL 

CHRIST  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE   WORLD. 

AT  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  Jesus,  who  kii<:w  that 
He  was  sent  to  confer  upon  men  the  realities 
which  had  been  symbolised  and  promised  in  all 
religious  rites,  proclaimed  that  He  was  the  fountain  of 
life  (vii.  37) ;  and  thus  responded  to  the  unuttered 
prayer  of  those  who  looked  with  some  weariness  at 
the  old  routine  of  drawing  water  in  remembrance  of 
the  provision  God  had  made  for  their  fathers  in  the 
f^csert.  Another  feature  of  the  same  Feast  leads  Him 
now  to  declare  a  further  characteristic  of  His  person. 
In  commemoration  of  the  Pillar  of  Fire  that  led  their 
fathers  in  the  trackless  desert,  the  people  lit  large 
lamps  round  the  Temple,  and  gave  themselves  up  to 
dancing  and  revelry.  But  this,  too,  was  no  doubt  felt 
to  be  for  the  superficial  souls  that  can  live  upon  rites 
and  symbols,  and  do  not  seek  to -lay  bare  their  inmost 
being  to  the  very  touch  of  eternal  reality.  Not  merely 
the  cynic  would  smile  as  venerable  men  joined  in  the 
lamp-light  dance,  "but  possibly  even  the  grave  and 
pious  onlooker,  looking  back  on  his  own  mistakes  in 
life,  and  conscious  of  the  blind  way  in  which  he  was 
still  blundering  on,  stood  wondering  where  the  true 
Guide  of  Israel,  the  real  Light  of  human  life  was  to  be 
found.  In  sympathy  with  all  such  longing  after  truth 
.  .*?3  18 


<74  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHH 

and  clear  vision  Jesus  cries,  "  I  am  the  light  of  the 
world  ;  he  that  foUoweth  Me  shall  not  walk  in  dark- 
ness, but  shall  have  the  light  of  life." 

His  words  must  be  interpreted  by  their  reference  to 
the  light  which  was  then  being  celebrated.  Of  that 
light  we  read  that  "  the  Lord  went  before  them  by  day 
in  a  pillar  of  cloud,  to  lead  them  the  way,  and  by  night 
in  a  pillar  of  fire,  to  give  them  light."  This  was  a 
customary  mode  of  directing  the  movements  of  large 
bodies  of  men,  whether  caravans  or  armies.  In  the 
case  of  an  army  a  tall  pole  was  erected  in  front  of  the 
chiefs  tent,  and  from  it  a  basket  of  fire  was  suspended, 
so  that  the  glare  of  it  was  visible  by  night,  and  its 
smoke  by  day.  The  head  of  a  marching  column  could 
thus  be  descried  from  a  great  distance,  especially  in 
wide  level  tracts  with  little  or  no  vegetation  and  few 
inequalities  of  surface  to  interrupt  the  view.  The  dis- 
tinctive peculiarity  of  the  Israelitish  march  was  that 
Jehovah  was  in  the  fire,  and  that  He  alone  controlled 
its  movements,  and  thereby  the  movements  of  the 
camp.  When  the  pillar  of  cloud  left  its  place  and 
advanced  the  tents  were  struck,  lest  they  should  be 
separated,  from  Jehovah  and  be  found  unfaithful  to 
Him.  During  the  whole  course  of  their  sojourn  in  the 
wilderness  their  movements  were  thus  controlled  and 
ordered.  The  beacon-fire  that  led  them  was  unaffected 
by  atmospheric  influences.  Dispelled  by  no  gales,  and 
evaporated  by  no  fiercest  heat  of  the  Eastern  sun,  it 
hovered  in  the  van  of  the  host  as  the  guiding  angel  of 
the  Lord.  The  guidance  it  gave  was  uninterrupted 
and  unerring ;  it  was  never  mistaken  for  an  ordinary 
cloud,  never  so  altered  its  shape  as  to  become  unrecog- 
nisable. And  each  night  the  flame  shot  up,  and  assured 
the  people  they  might  rest  in  peace. 


»ffi.  ia-19.]    CHRIST  THE  UGHT  OF  THE  WORLD.        275 

Two  obvious  characteristics  of  this  guiding  Light 
must  be  kept  in  view. 

1.  God's  people  were  not  led  by  a  road  already  made 
and  used,  and  which  they  could  have  studied  from 
beginning  to  end  on  a  map  before  starting ;  but  they 
were  led  day  by  day,  and  step  by  step,  by  a  living 
guide,  who  chose  a  route  never  before  trodden.  In 
the  morning  they  did  not  know  whether  they  were 
to  go  forward  or  back,  or  to  stay  where  they  were. 
They  had  to  wait  in  ignorance  till  their  guiding  pillar 
moved,  and  follow  in  ignorance  till  it  halted.  Our 
passage  through  life  is  similar.  It  is  not  a  chart  we 
are  promised  but  a  guide.  We  cannot  tell  where 
next  year  or  next  month  may  be  spent.  We  are  not 
informed  of  any  part  of  our  future,  and  have  no  means 
of  ascertaining  the  emergencies  which  may  try  us,  the 
new  ingredients  which  may  suddenly  be  thrown  into 
our  life,  and  reveal  in  us  what  till  now  has  lain  hidden 
and  dormant.  We  cannot  tell  by  what  kind  of  path 
we  shall  be  led  onwards  to  our  end ;  and  our  security 
from  day  to  day  consists  not  at  all  in  this,  that  we  can 
penetrate  the  future,  and  see  no  dangers  in  it,  but  our 
security  is  that  we  shall  always  be  guided  by  infallible 
and  loving  wisdom.  We  have  learned  a  chief  article 
of  human  wisdom  if  we  have  learned  to  leave  to-morrow 
to  God  and  faithfully  follow  Him  to-day.  A  road  as  it 
lies  in  the  distance  often  looks  impassably  steep,  but 
as  we  appproach  and  walk  it  step  by  step,  we  find  it 
almost  level  and  fairly  easy. 

2.  This  light  was  to  guide,  not  their  conduct,  but 
their  movements.  All  men  need  similar  guidance. 
All  men  have  practical  matters  to  determine  which 
often  greatly  perplex  them ;  they  must  make  a  choice 
between  one  or  other  course  of  action  that  is  possible 


176  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 


Steps  which  will  determine  their  whole  subsequent  life 
must  be  taken  or  declined ;  and  for  the  determining  of 
such  alterations  in  the  place  or  mode  of  their  life  there 
is  often  felt  great  need  of  a  guidance  which  can  be 
entirely  relied  upon.  Sometimes,  indeed,  our  course 
is  determined  for  us,  and  we  are  not  consulted  in  the 
matter ;  as  the  pillar  of  fire  was  silent,  assigning  no 
reasons,  condescending  to  no  persuasion  or  argument, 
but  simply  moving  forwards  ;  passing  over  rugged  and 
steep  mountain  ridges,  past  inviting  and  sheltered 
glens,  offering  no  present  explanation  of  the  route,  but 
justified  always  by  the  result.  So  we  often  find  that 
our  course  is  determined  apart  from  our  own  choice, 
wishes,  judgment,  or  prayers.  But  this  we  commonly 
resent,  and  crave  a  guidance  which  shall  approve  itself 
to  our  own  judgment  and  yet  be  infallible ;  which  shall 
leave  us  our  freedom  of  choice,  and  yet  carry  us  forwards 
to  all  possibilities  of  good.  In  fact,  we  would  rather 
have  our  freedom  of  choice  and  the  responsibility  of 
guiding  our  own  life,  with  all  its  risks,  than  be  carried 
forward  without  choice  of  our  own. 

This  is  the  great  distinction  between  the  light  which 
Christ  is  and  the  light  by  which  the  Israelites  were  led 
from  day  to  day.  They  had  an  external  means  of 
ascertaining  promptly  which  way  they  should  go. 
Their  whole  life  was  circumscribed,  and  its  place  and 
mode  determined  for  them.  The  guidance  offered  to 
us  by  (Christ  is  of  an  inward  kind.  A  God  without 
might  srem  perfect  as  a  guide,  but  a  God  within  is  the 
real  perfection.  God  does  not  now  lead  us  by  a  sign 
which  we  could  follow,  though  we  had  no  real  sympathy 
with  Divine  ways  and  no  wisdom  of  our  own  ;  but  He 
leads  us  by  communicating  to  us  His  own  perceptions 
o/  Hghi  »nd  wrong,  by  inwardly  eiilightening  us,  and 


viiL  13-19.]    CHRIST  THE  UGHT  OF  THE  WORLD,        177 

by  making  us  ourselves  of  such  a  disposition  that  we 
naturally  choose  what  is  good. 

When  matters  difficult  to   handle   and   to   manage 
come  into  our  life,  and  when  we  are  tempted  to  long 
for  some  external  sign  which  would  show  us  infallibly 
the  right  thing  to  do  and  the  right  way  to  follow,  let 
this  be  our  consolation,  that  this  very  exercise  of  judg- 
ment and  bearing  of  responsibility  in  matters  where 
right   and   wrong   are  not   broadly   distinguished   are 
among  the  chief  instruments  for  the  formation  of  cha- 
racter; and  that  even  though  we  err  in  the  choice  we  make, 
yet  by  our  error  and  by  all  honest  effort  to  keep  right 
with  God  in  the  matter,  we  shall  certainly  have  made 
growth  in  ability  to  understand  and  to  do  what  is  right. 
No  doubt  it  is  easier  to  believe  in  a  guide  we  can  see 
and  that  moves  before  us  like  a  pillar  of  fire ;  but  sup- 
posing for  a  moment  that  this  dispensation  under  which 
we  are  living  is  not  a  great  deception,  supposing  for  a 
moment  that  God  is  doing  that  one  thing  which  He 
pledged  Himself  to  do,  namely,  giving  a  Divine  Spirit 
to  men,  Himself  dwelling  with  men  and  in  them,  then 
we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  this  guidance  is  of  a  much 
higher  kind,  and  has  much  more  lasting  results  than 
any  external  guidance  could  have.     If,  by  allowing  us 
to  determine  our  own  course  and  find  our  own  way 
through  all  the  hazards  and  perplexities  of  life,  God  is 
teaching  us  to  estimate  actions  and  their  results  more 
and  more  by  their  moral  value,  and  if  thereby  He  is 
impregnating  you  with  His  own  mind  and  character, 
surely   that  is  a  much  better   thing  than  if  He  were 
keeping  us  in  the  right  way  merely  by  outward  signs 
and  irrespective  of  our  own  growth  in  wisdom. 

Persons  whose  opinion  is  not  to  be  lightly  esteemed 
say  that  if  we  honestly  seek  God's  guidance  in  any 


27S  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

matter  we  cannot  err,  and  have  no  business  to  reflect 
afterwards  on  our  conduct  as  if  we  had  made  a  wrong 
choice.  I  cannot  think  that  is  so.  Sincere  people  who 
ask  God's  guidance,  it  seems  to  me,  frequently  make 
mistakes.  In  fact,  our  past  mistakes  are  a  great  part 
of  our  education.  Unless  we  are  habitually  in  sym- 
pathy with  God  we  are  not  infallible  even  in  matters 
where  a  moral  judgment  is  all  that  is  required ;  and 
sometimes  more  is  required  of  us  than  to  say  what  is 
right  and  what  is  wrong.  Other  points  have  to  be 
considered — points  which  call  for  a  knowledge  of  life, 
of  places,  and  professions,  of  the  trustworthiness  of 
other  men,  and  a  thousand  matters  in  which  we  are 
liable  to  err.  It  is  of  course  a  great  satisfaction  to 
know  that  we  wished  to  do  right,  even  if  we  discover 
we  have  blundered  ;  and  it  is  also  a  satisfaction  to  know 
that  God  can  use  us  for  good  in  any  position,  even  in 
that  we  have  blundered  into,  although  meanwhile  we 
have  lost  some  present  good. 

The  light  which  Christ  brought  to  the  world  was 
the  light  "of  life."  This  additional  description  "of 
life  "  He  commonly  appended  to  distinguish  the  real  and 
eternal  good  He  bestowed  from  the  figure  by  which  it 
had  been  hinted  at  He  calls  Himself  the  Bread  of  life ^ 
the  Water  of  life,  to  point  out  that  He  is  really  and 
eternally  what  these  material  things  are  in  the  present 
physical  world.  All  this  present  constitution  of  things 
may  pass  away,  and  the  time  may  come  when  men 
shall  no  longer  need  to  be  sustained  by  bread,  but  the 
time  shall  never  come  when  they  shall  not  need  life; 
and  this  fundamental  gift  Christ  pledges  Himself  ever- 
more to  give.  And  when  He  names  Himself  the  light 
of  life  He  indicates  that  it  is  on  the  true,  eternal  life 
of  man  He  sheds  light. 


vili.  12-19.]    CHRIST  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD.        ajg 

There  may,  then,  be  many  things  and  important 
things  on  which  Christ  sheds  no  direct  light,  although 
there  is  nothing  of  importance  on  which  He  does 
not  shed  light  indirectly.  He  brought  into  the  world 
no  direct  light  upon  scientific  questions ;  He  did 
not  hasten  the  development  of  art  by  any  special 
light  thrown  on  its  objeccs  and  methods.  There  was 
no  great  need  for  light  on  such  matters.  These  are 
not  the  distressing  difficulties  of  human  existence.  In- 
deed, men  find  stimulus  and  joy  in  overcoming  these 
difficulties,  and  resent  being  told  nature's  secrets,  and 
not  being  allowed  to  find  them  out.  But  the  darkness 
that  settles  on  the  life  of  the  individual,  and  upon  the 
condition  of  large  classes  of  people  through  what  is 
human,  personal,  and  practical  is  often  overwhelming, 
and  compels  men  to  cry  for  light.  The  strange  mis- 
carriage of  justice  in  the  life  of  many  individuals ;  the 
compulsion  put  upon  them  to  sin  and  to  disbelieve 
through  the  pressure  of  unceasing  failure  and  privation  ; 
the  triumph  of  cold-hearted  villainy ;  the  bitterness  of 
separation  and  death ;  the  impenetrable  darkness  of 
the  future ;  the  incomprehensible  dimness  in  which  the 
most  important  truths  are  involved — all  this  men  find 
no  pleasure  in,  but  rather  a  torment  that  is  sometimes 
maddening,  often  destructive  of  all  faith,  and  always 
painful.  This  is  the  kind  of  darkness  that  causes  men 
to  sink;  they  run  upon  the  rocks,  and  go  down  in 
darkness,  no  living  soul  hearing  their  cry.  This  is  the 
darkness  which  wrings  from  many  a  heart  at  this 
moment  the  question  of  despair,  "What  has  become 
of  God  ?  " 

The  darkness  regarding  conduct  in  which  men  are 
involved  has  largely  a  moral  root.  Men  are  blinded 
by  their  appetities  and  passions,  so  that  the^  cannot 


28o  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

see  the  best  ends  and  enjoyments  of  life.  It  is  the 
strong  craving  we  have  for  gratifications  of  sense  and 
of  worldly  desire  that  misleads  us  in  life.  As  some 
creatures  have  the  faculty  of  emitting  a  dark  and  turbid 
matter  that  discolours  the  water,  and  hides  them  from 
their  pursuers,  so  it  is  a  self-evolved  and  home-made 
darkness  that  involves  us.  False  expectations  are  the 
atmosphere  of  our  life ;  we  live  in  an  unreal  world 
created  by  our  own  tastes  and  desires,  which  misinform 
us,  and  bid  us  seek  the  good  of  life  where  it  is  not  to 
be  found. 

It  is  then  this  hght  that  Christ  is  and  brings,  light 
upon  human  life,  Ught  upon  all  that  most  intimately 
concerns  human  character,  human  conduct,  and  human 
destiny.  What  each  of  us  chiefly  needs  to  know  is, 
what  is  the  best  kind  of  human  life — how  can  I  best 
spend  my  energies,  and  how  can  I  best  sustain  them  ? 
Are  there  any  results  of  life  which  are  satisfying  and 
which  are  certain  ;  and  if  so,  how  can  I  attain  them  ? 
Do  not  all  things  happen  alike  to  all ;  is  it  not  with 
the  wise  man  and  the  righteous  as  with  the  fool  ?  Is 
life  worth  serious  devotion ;  will  it  repay  what  is  spent 
upon  it  ?  Is  not  cynical  indifference,  or  selfish  caring 
for  present  interests,  the  most  philosophical  as  well  as 
the  most  pleasant  and  easy  attitude  towards  life  to 
assume?  These  are  the  questions  which  we  find 
answered  in  Christ 

The  expression,  "the  light  of  life,**  may,  however, 
have  a  somewhat  different  meaning.  It  may  mean 
that  he  who  follows  Christ  shall  have  that  light  which 
accompanies,  and  is  fed  by,  the  life  which  Christ  gives. 
At  the  outset  of  the  Gospel  John  declared  that  "the 
Life  was  the  light  of  men."  And  this  is  true  in  the 
sense  that  they  who  accept  Christ  as  tiieir  life,  and 


vui.ia-19.]    CHRIST  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD.        sSi 

truly  live  in  Him  and  by  Him,  walk  in  light  and  not 
in  darkness.  The  clouds  and  gloom  which  overhung 
their  life  are  dissipated.  Their  horizon  is  widened, 
their  prospect  cleared,  and  all  things  with  which  they 
have  presently  to  do  are  seen  in  their  true  dimensions 
and  relations.  They  who  live  with  the  life  of  Christ 
have  a  clear  light  regarding  duty.  The  man  who  has 
entered  into  the  life  Christ  opens  to  us,  however  slow 
and  dull  in  intellect  he  may  be,  may  indeed  make  many 
mistakes,  but  he  will  find  his  way  through  life,  and 
issue  from  it,  in  his  measure,  triumphant. 

It  is  further  to  be  remarked  that  Jesus  does  not 
content  Himself  with  a  place  beside  other  teachers, 
saying,  "  I  will  give  you  light,"  but  affirms  that  the 
light  is  inseparable  from  His  own  person.  "  I  am  the 
light."  By  this  He  means,  as  already  observed,  that  it 
is  by  receiving  Him  as  our  life  that  we  have  light. 
But  His  words  also  mean  that  He  imparts  this  light 
not  by  oral  teaching,  but  by  being  what  He  is,  and 
living  as  He  does.  Teaching  by  word  and  precept  is 
well,  when  nothing  better  can  be  had ;  ^  but  it  is  the 
Word  made  flesh  that  commands  the  attention  of  all. 
This  is  a  language  universally  intelligible.  "A  life, 
the  highest  conceivable,  on  almost  the  lowest  conceiv- 
able stage,  and  recorded  in  the  simplest  form,  with 
indifference  to  all  outward  accompaniments  attractive 
whether  to  the  few  or  to  the  many,  is  set  before  us  as 
the  final  and  unalterable  ideal  of  human  life,  amid  all 


*  "Many  had  spokeo  wonderfully  the  truths  concerning  our  state, 
and  even  concerning  our  hopes ;  they  had  sounded  great  depths  in  the 
sea  of  wisdom;  they  had  drawn  the  line  between  what  is  solid  and 
what  is  vain  in  life;  they  had  caught,  firmly  and  clearly,  what  wu 
worth  living  for ;  they  had  measured  truly  the  relative  value  of  the  fleah 
and  the  Spirit." — Dean  Church,  Giftt  of  CivilisatUm^  p.  I05. 


a82  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

its  continual  and  astonishing  changes."  It  is  by  this 
life  led  here  on  earth  He  becomes  our  Light.  It  is  by 
His  faith  maintained  in  the  utmost  of  trial ;  His  calm- 
ness and  hopefulness  amidst  all  that  shrouds  human 
life  in  darkness ;  His  constant  persuasion  that  God  is 
in  this  world,  present,  loving,  and  working.  It  is  by 
His  habitual  attitude  towards  this  life,  and  towards  the 
unseen,  that  we  receive  light  to  guide  us.  In  His 
calmness  we  take  refuge  from  our  own  dismay.  In 
His  hopefulness  we  refresh  ourselves  in  every  time  of 
weariness.  In  His  confidence  our  timorous  anxieties 
are  rebuked.  Upon  the  darkest  parts  of  our  hfe  there 
falls  from  Him  some  clear  ray  that  brightens  and 
directs.  Thousands  of  His  followers,  in  every  age, 
have  verified  His  words  :  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world : 
he  that  followeth  Me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but 
shall  have  the  light  of  Ufe." 

And  as  the  Teacher  taught  by  living  so  must  the 
scholar  learn  by  living.  Christ  brings  light  by  passing 
through  all  human  experiences  and  situations,  and  "  he 
that  followeth  "  Him,  not  he  that  reads  about  Him, 
"  shall  have  the  light  of  life."  There  are  very  few  men 
in  the  world  who  can  think  to  much  purpose  on  truths 
so  abstruse  and  complicated  as  the  Divinity  of  Christ 
and  the  Atonement  and  Miracles ;  but  there  is  no  man 
so  dull  as  not  to  see  the  difference  between  Christ's 
life  and  His  own.  Few  men  may  be  able  to  explain 
satisfactorily  the  relation  Christ  holds  to  God  on  the 
one  hand  and  to  us  on  the  other ;  but  every  man  who 
knows  Christ  at  all  even  as  he  knows  his  friend  or  his 
father,  is  conscious  that  a  new  light  falls  upon  sin  of 
all  kinds,  upon  sins  of  appetite  and  sins  of  temper  and 
sins  of  disposition,  since  Christ  Uved.  It  is  in  this 
light  Christ  would  have  us  walk,  and  if  we  follow  as 


vtiLia-i9.]    CHRIST  THE  UGHT  OF  THE  WORLD.        283 

He  leads  on,  we  shall  never  lack  the  light  of  life.  We 
need  not  be  seriously  disturbed  about  the  darkness 
that  hangs  round  the  horizon  if  light  falls  on  our  own 
path ;  we  need  not  be  disturbed  by  our  ignorance  of 
many  Divine  and  human  things,  nor  by  our  inability  to 
answer  many  questions  which  may  be  put  to  us,  and 
which  indeed  we  naturally  put  to  ourselves,  so  long 
only  as  we  are  sure  we  are  living  so  as  to  please  and 
satisfy  Christ  If  our  life  runs  on  the  lines  His  life 
marked  out,  we  shall  certainly  arrive  where  He  now 
is,  in  the  happiest  and  highest  human  condition. 


XIX. 

JESUS  REJECTED  IN  JERUSALEM. 


285 


**  He  said  therefore  again  unto  them,  I  go  away,  and  ye  shall  seek  Me, 

and  shall  die  in  your  sin  :  whither  I  go,  ye  cannot  come.  The  Jew» 
therefore  said,  Will  He  kill  Himself,  that  He  saith,  Whither  I  go,  ye 
cannot  come?  And  He  said  unto  them.  Ye  are  from  beneath  ;  I  am 
from  above :  ye  are  of  this  world ;  I  am  not  of  this  world.  I  said 
therefore  unto  you,  that  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins  :  for  except  ye  belicTe 
that  I  am  He,  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins.  They  said  therefore  unto  Him, 
Who  art  Thou?  Jesus  said  tmto  them,  Even  that  which  I  have  also 
spoken  unto  you  from  the  beginning.  I  have  many  things  to  speak 
and  to  judge  concemmg  you  :  howbeit  He  that  sent  Me  is  true  ;  and 
the  things  which  I  heard  from  Him,  these  speak  I  unto  the  world. 
They  perceived  not  that  He  spa^ce  to  them  of  the  Father.  Jesus  there- 
fore said,  When  ye  have  lifted  up  the  Son  of  man,  then  shall  ye  know 
that  I  am  He  and  that  I  do  nothing  of  Myself,  but  as  the  Father 
taught  Me,  I  speak  these  things.  And  He  that  sent  Me  is  with  Me ; 
He  hath  not  left  Me  alone ;  for  I  do  always  the  things  that  are  pleasing 
to  Him.  As  He  spake  these  things,  many  believed  on  Him.  Jesus 
therefore  said  to  those  Jews  which  had  believed  Him,  If  ye  abide  in 
My  word,  then  are  ye  truly  My  disciples ;  and  ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free.  They  answered  unto  Him,  We  be 
Abraham's  seed,  and  have  never  yet  been  in  bondage  to  any  man : 
how  sayest  Thou,  Ye  shall  be  made  free?  Jesus  answered  them, 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Every  one  that  committeth  sin  is  the 
bondservant  of  sin.  And  the  bondservant  abideth  not  in  the  house  for 
ever :  the  son  abideth  for  ever.-  If  therefore  the  Son  shall  make  you 
free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed.  I  know  that  ye  are  Abraham's  seed ;  yet 
ye  seek  to  kiU  Me,  because  My  word  hath  not  free  course  in  you.  I 
speak  the  things  which  I  have  seen  with  My  Father  :  and  ye  also  do 
the  things  which  ye  heard  from  your  father.  They  answered  and  said 
unto  Him,  Our  father  is  Abraham.  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  If  ye  were 
Abraham's  children,  ye  would  do  the  works  of  Abraham.  But  now  ye 
seek  to  kill  Me,  a  man  that  hath  told  you  the  truth,  which  I  heard  from 
God  :  this  did  not  Abraham.  Ye  do  the  works  of  your  father.  They 
said  unto  Him,  We  were  not  born  of  fornication  ;  we  have  one  Father, 
even  God.  Jesus  said  unto  them,  If  God  were  your  Father,  ye  would 
love  Me  :  for  I  came  forth  and  am  come  from  God  ;  for  neither  have  I 
come  of  Myself,  but  He  sent  Me.  Why  do  ye  not  understand  My 
speech?    Even  because  ye  cannot  hear  My  word.     Ye  are  of  your 

2S7 


father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  jrour  father  it  is  your  will  to  do.     He 

was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and  stood  not  in  the  truth,  because 
there  is  no  truth  in  him.  When  he  speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his 
own :  for  he  is  a  liar,  and  the  father  thereof.  But  because  I  say  the 
truth,  ye  believe  Me  not.  Which  of  you  convicteth  Me  of  sin  ?  If  I 
say  truth,  why  do  ye  not  believe  Me  ?  He  that  is  of  God  heareth  the 
words  of  God  :  for  this  cause  ye  hear  them  not,  because  ye  are  not  of 
God.  The  Jews  answered  and  said  unto  Him,  Say  we  not  well  that 
Thou  art  a  Samaritan,  and  hast  a  devil  ?  Jesus  answered,  I  have  not 
a  devil ;  but  I  honour  My  Father,  and  ye  dishonour  Me.  But  I  seek 
not  mine  own  glory  :  there  is  One  that  seeketh  and  judgeth.  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  If  a  man  keep  My  word,  he  shall  never  see 
death.  The  Jews  said  unto  Him,  Now  we  know  that  Thou  hast  a  devil. 
Abraham  is  dead,  and  the  prophets  ;  and  Thou  sayest,  If  a  man  keep 
My  word,  he  shall  never  taste  of  death.  Art  Thou  greater  than  our 
father  Abraham,  which  is  dead  ?  and  the  prophets  are  dead :  whom 
makest  Thou  Thyself?  Jesus  answered.  If  I  glorify  Myself,  My  glory 
is  nothing :  it  is  My  Father  that  glorifieth  Me ;  of  whom  ye  say,  that 
He  is  your  God  ;  and  ye  have  not  known  Him  :  but  I  know  Him ;  and 
if  I  should  say,  I  know  Him  not,  I  shall  be  like  unto  you,  a  liar :  but 
I  know  Him,  and  keep  His  word.  Your  father  Abraham  rejoiced  to 
see  My  day ;  and  he  saw  it,  and  was  glad.  The  Jews  therefore  said 
unto  Him,  Thou  art  not  yet  fifty  years  old,  and  hast  Thou  seen 
Abraham?  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you. 
Before  Abraham  was,  I  am.  They  took  up  stones  therefore  to  cast  at 
Him  :  but  Jesus  hid  Himself,  and  went  out  of  the  temple." — John  viii. 
21-59. 


XIX 

JESUS  REJECTED  IN  JERUSALEM, 

JOHN  has  now  briefly  detailed  the  self-manifestatioB« 
of  Jesus  which  He  considered  sufficient  to  induce 
the  Jews  to  believe  in  Him  ;  and  he  has  shown  us 
how,  both  in  Galilee  and  in  Jerusalem,  the  people,  with 
few  exceptions,  remained  unconvinced.  He  has  also  very 
clearly  shown  the  reason  of  His  rejection  in  Galilee. 
The  reason  was  that  the  blessings  He  proposed  to 
bestow  were  spiritual,  while  the  blessings  they  craved 
were  physical.  Their  Messianic  expectation  was  not 
satisfied  in  Him.  So  long  as  He  healed  their  sick,  and 
by  His  mere  will  furnished  famishing  thousands  with 
food,  they  thought,  This  is  the  King  for  us.  But  when 
He  told  them  that  these  things  were  mere  signs  of 
higher  blessings,  and  when  He  urged  them  to  seek 
these  spiritual  gifts,  they  left  Him  in  a  body. 

In  Jerusalem  opinion  has  followed  a  similar  course. 
There  also  Jesus  has  exemplified  His  power  to  impart 
life.  He  has  carefully  explained  the  significance  of 
that  sign,  and  has  explicitly  claimed  Divine  prerogatives. 
But  although  individuals  believe,  the  mass  of  the 
people  are  only  perplexed,  and  the  authorities  are 
exasperated.  The  rulers,  however,  find  it  impossible 
to  proceed  against  Him,  owing  to  the  influence  He  has 
with  the  people,  and  even  with  their  own   servants. 

«89  19 


^90  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

This  state  of  matters,  however,  was  not  destined  to 
continue ;  and  in  the  eighth  chapter  John  traces  the 
course  of  popular  opinion  from  a  somewhat  hopeful 
perplexity  to  a  furious  hostility  that,  at  length,  for  the 
first  time,  broke  out  in  actual  violence  (viiL  59).  Jesus 
did  not  indeed  immediately  retire,  as  if  further  efforts 
to  induce  faith  were  useless,  but  when  the  storm  broke 
out  a  second  time  (x.  39,  40)  He  finally  withdrew,  and 
taught  only  such  as  sought  Him  out. 

At  this  point,  then,  in  the  history  we  are  invited  to 
inquire  what  grounds  of  faith  Jesus  had  presented,  and 
what  were  the  true  reasons  of  His  rejection. 

I.  But  first  we  must  ask,  In  what  character  or 
capacity  did  Jesus  present  Himself  to  men?  What 
did  He  declare  Himself  to  be  ?  What  demand  did  He 
make  on  the  faith  of  those  to  whom  He  presented 
Himself?  When  He  required  that  they  should  believe 
in  Him,  what  exactly  did  He  mean  ?  Certainly  He 
did  not  mean  less  than  that  they  should  believe  He 
was  the  Messiah,  and  should  accept  Him  as  such.  The 
"  Messiah"  was  an  elastic  title,  perhaps  not  conveying 
to  any  two  minds  in  Israel  precisely  the  same  idea. 
It  had  indeed  for  all  Israelites  some  contents  in 
common.  It  meant  that  here  was  One  upon  earth  and 
accessible,  who  was  sent  to  be  the  Bearer  of  God's 
good-will  to  men,  a  Mediator  through  whom  God  meant 
to  make  His  presence  felt  and  His  will  known.  But 
some  who  believed  Jesus  was  the  Christ  had  so  poor 
a  conception  of  the  Christ,  that  He  could  not  accept 
theirs  as  a  sound  faith.  The  minimum  of  acceptable 
faith  must  believe  in  the  actual  Jesus,  and  allow  the 
idea  of  the  Christ  to  be  formed  by  what  was  seen  in 
Jesus.  Those  who  believed  must  so  trust  Jesus  as  to 
be  willing  that  He  should  fashion  the  Messiahship  as 


vuL  ai-S9.]  JESUS  REJECTED  IN  JERUSALEM.  agi 

He  saw  fit  It  was  therefore  primarily  in  Himself  the 
true  believer  trusted.  He  did  not,  in  the  first  instance, 
believe  He  was  this  or  that,  but  he  felt,  "  Here  is  the 
greatest  and  best  I  know  ;  I  give  myself  to  Him."  Of 
course  this  involved  that  whatever  Christ  claimed  to 
be,  He  was  believed  to  be.  But  it  is  of  importance 
to  observe  that  the  confession,  **  I  believe  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,"  was  not  enough  in  Christ's  own  day  to 
guarantee  the  soundness  of  the  faith  of  the  confessor. 
He  had  further  to  answer  the  question,  "  What  do  you 
mean  by  *  the  Christ '  ?  For  if  you  mean  a  national 
Messiah,  coming  to  give  you  political  freedom  and 
social  blessings  only,  this  faith  cannot  be  trusted." 
But  if  any  one  could  say,  "  I  believe  in  Jesus,"  and  if 
by  this  he  meant,  "  I  so  beh'eve  in  Him  that  whatever 
He  says  He  is,  I  believe  He  is,  and  whatever  be  the 
contents  with  which  He  fills  the  Messianic  name,  these 
contents  I  accept  as  belonging  to  the  office,"  this  faith 
was  sound  and  acceptable. 

And,  according  to  this  Gospel,  Jesus  at  once  made 
it  plain  that  His  idea  of  the  Messianic  ofl!ice  was  not 
the  popular  idea.  It  was  "  eternal  fife  "  He  constantly 
proclaimed  as  the  gift  the  Father  had  commissioned 
Him  to  bestow  ;  not  physical  life,  not  revived  political 
life.  So  that  it  very  shortly  became  impossible  for  any 
one  to  make  the  confession  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ, 
in  ignorance  of  what  He  Himself  judged  the  Christ  to 
be.  It  may  be  said,  therefore,  that  when  Jesus  required 
men  to  believe  in  Him,  He  meant  that  they  should 
trust  Him  as  mediating  efficiently  between  God  and 
them,  and  should  accept  His  view  of  all  that  was 
needful  for  this  mediation.  He  meant  that  they  should 
look  to  Him  for  life  eternal  and  for  perfect  fellowship 
with   God.     What  was  doctrinally   involved  in   this, 


29*  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

what  was  implied  in  His  claim  regarding  His  eternal 
nature,  might  or  might  not  at  once  be  understood. 
What  must  be  understood  and  believed  was,  that 
Jesus  was  empowered  by  God  to  act  for  Him,  to  re- 
present Him,  to  impart  to  men  all  that  God  would 
impart. 

II.  This  being  so,  we  may  now  inquire,  what  suffi- 
cient reason  Jesus,  as  already  reported  in  this  Gospel, 
has  given  why  the  people  should  accept  Him  as  the 
Christ  In  these  eight  chapters  what  do  we  find 
related  which  should  have  furnished  the  Jews  with  all 
the  evidence  which  reasonable  minds  would  require  ? 

I.  He  was  definitely  identified  as  the  Christ  by  the 
Baptist.  It  was  John's  function  to  recognise  the  person 
sent  by  God  to  fulfil  all  His  will,  and  to  found  a 
kingdom  of  God  among  men.  For  this  John  lived; 
and  if  any  man  was  in  a  position  to  say  "  yes "  or 
"  no "  in  response  to  the  question.  Is  this  the  Christ, 
the  Anointed  and  commissioned  of  God  ?  John  was 
that  man.  No  man  was  in  himself  better  qualified  to 
judge,  and  no  man  had  such  material  for  judging,  and 
his  judgment  was  explicit  and  assured.  To  put  aside 
this  testimony  as  valueless  is  out  of  the  question.  It 
is  more  reasonable  to  ask  whether  it  is  even  possible 
that  in  this  matter  the  Baptist  should  be  mistaken. 

Jesus  Himself  indeed  did  not  rest  upon  this  testimony. 
For  His  own  certification  of  His  dignity  He  did  not 
require  it.  He  did  not  require  the  corroborative  voice 
of  one  human  being.  It  was  not  by  what  He  was  told 
regarding  Himself  that  He  became  conscious  of  His 
Sonship ;  nor  was  it  by  an  external  testimony,  even 
from  such  a  man  as  John,  that  He  was  encouraged  to 
make  the  claims  He  made.  John  was  but  a  mirror 
reflecting  what  was  already  in  Him,  possibly  stimulat- 


vHi  21-59]   JESUS  REJECTED  IN  JERUSALEM.  293 

ing  self-conscioi}sness,  but  adding  nothing  to  His  fitness 
for  His  work, 

2.  He  expected  that  His  claim  to  have  come  forth 
from  God  would  be  believed  on  His  own  word.  The 
Samaritans  believed  Him  on  His  own  word.  This 
does  not  mean  that  they  believed  a  mere  assertion ; 
they  believed  the  assertion  of  One  whom  they  felt  to 
be  speaking  the  truth.  There  was  that  in  His  character 
and  bearing  which  compelled  their  faith.  Through  all 
He  said  there  shone  the  self-evidencing  light  of  truth. 
They  might  not  have  been  able  to  stand  a  cross- 
examination  as  to  the  reason  of  the  faith  that  was  in 
them,  they  might  not  have  been  able  to  satisfy  any 
other  person  or  induce  him  to  believe,  but  they  were 
justified  in  following  an  instinct  which  said  to  them, 
This  man  is  neither  deceiver  nor  deceived.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  claim  of  Jesus  absolutely  incredible. 
Nay,  it  rather  fell  in  with  their  idea  of  God  and  with 
the  knowledge  of  their  own  needs.  They  wished  a 
revelation,  and  saw  nothing  impossible  in  it  This  may 
nowadays  be  judged  a  homely  rather  than  a  philoso- 
phical view  to  take  of  God  and  of  His  relation  to  men. 
But  primary  and  universal  instincts  have  their  place, 
and,  if  scientific  knowledge  does  not  contradict  them, 
should  be  trusted.  It  was  because  the  Samaritans  had 
not  tampered  with  their  natural  cravings  and  hopes, 
and  had  not  allowed  their  idea  of  the  Messiah  to  harden 
into  a  definite  conception,  that  they  were  able  to 
welcome  Jesus  with  a  faith  which  He  rarely  met  with 
elsewhere. 

And  the  main  authentication  of  Christ's  claim  at  all 
times  is  simply  this,  that  He  makes  the  claim,  and 
that  there  is  that  in  Him  which  testifies  to  His  truth, 
while  there  is  that  in  the  claim  itself  which  is  congruous 


394  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOIhV. 

to  our  instincts  and  needs.  There  was  that  in  the 
bearing  of  Christ  which  commanded  belief  in  natures 
which  were  not  numbed  and  blunted  by  prejudice. 
The  Capernaum  courtier  who  came  to  Jesus  expecting 
to  bring  Him  down  with  him  to  heal  his  boy,  when 
he  saw  Him  felt  he  could  trust  Him,  and  returned 
alone.  Jesus  was  conscious  that  He  spoke  of  what 
He  knew,  and  spoke  of  it  truly.  "  I  speak  that  which 
I  have  seen  with  My  Father  "  (ver.  38).  "  My  record 
is  true  "  (ver,  14).  "  If  I  say  the  truth,  why  do  ye  not 
believe  Me  ? "  (ver.  46.)  This  consciousness,  both  of 
an  intention  to  speak  the  truth  and  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  in  a  mind  so  pellucid  and  sane,  justly 
impressed  candid  minds  in  His  own  day,  and  is  irre- 
sistibly impressive  still. 

Again,  we  judge  of  what  is  probable  or  improbable, 
credible  or  incredible,  mainly  by  its  congruity  with 
our  previous  belief.  Is  our  idea  of  God  such  that 
a  personal  revelation  seems  credible  and  even  likely? 
Does  this  supposed  revelation  in  Christ  consist  with 
previous  revelations  and  with  the  knowledge  of  God 
and  His  will  which  those  revelations  have  fostered? 
Does  this  final  revelation  actually  bring  us  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  and  does  it  satisfy  the  longings  and  pure 
aspirations,  the  thirst  for  God  and  the  hunger  for 
righteousness,  which  assert  themselves  in  us  like 
natural  appetites?  If  so,  then  the  untutored  human 
heart  accepts  this  revelation.  It  is  its  own  verification. 
Light  is  its  own  authentication.  Christ  brings  within 
our  ken  a  God  whom  we  cannot  but  own  as  God,  and 
who  is  nowhere  else  so  clearly  revealed.  It  is  this 
immediacy  of  authentication,  this  self-verification,  to 
which  our  Lord  constantly  appeals. 

3.  But  a  great  part  of  the  self-revelation  of  Christ 


viii.  21-59.]   J£SUS  REJECTED  IN  JERUSALEM.  igS 

could  best  be  made  in  action.  Such  a  work  as  the 
healing  of  the  impotent  man  was  visible  to  all  and 
legible  by  the  dullest.  If  His  words  were  sometimes 
enigmatic,  such  an  action  as  this  was  full  of  significance 
and  easily  understood.  By  this  compassionate  restora- 
tion of  the  vital  powers  He  proclaimed  Himself  the 
Father's  Delegate,  commissioned  to  express  the  Divine 
compassion  and  to  exercise  the  Divine  power  to  com- 
municate life.  This  was  meant  to  be  an  easy  lesson 
by  which  men  might  learn  that  God  is  full  of  compassion, 
ceaselessly  working  for  the  good  of  men;  that  He  is 
present  among  us  seeking  to  repair  the  mischiel  result- 
ing from  sin,  and  to  apply  to  our  needs  the  fulness  of 
His  own  life,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  medium 
through  whom  He  makes  Himself  accessible  to  us  and 
available  for  us. 

These  works  were  done  by  our  Lord  not  only  to 
convince  the  people  that  they  should  listen  to  Him,  but 
also  to  convince  them  that  God  Himself  was  present. 
"  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  My  Father,  believe  Me  not. 
But  if  I  do,  though  ye  believe  not  Me,  believe  the 
works,  that  ye  may  know,  and  believe,  that  the  Father 
is  in  Me,  and  I  in  Him."  It  was  this  He  strove  to 
impress  on  the  people,  that  God  was  with  them.  It 
was  not  Himself  He  wished  them  to  recognise,  but 
the  Father  in  Him.  "  I  seek  not  Mine  own  glory " 
(ver.  50).  And  therefore  it  was  the  kindness  of  the 
works  He  pointed  to :  "  Many  good  works  have  I 
showed  you  from  My  Father"  (x.  32).  He  sought 
through  these  works  to  lead  men  to  see  how  in  His 
Person  the  Father  was  applying  Himself  to  the  actual 
needs  of  mankind.  To  accept  God  for  one  purpose  is 
to  accept  Him  for  all.  To  believe  in  Him  as  present 
to  heal  naturally  leads  to  belief  in  Him  as  our  Friend 


»96  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

and  Father.  Hence  these  signs,  manifesting  the  pre- 
sence and  goodwill  of  God,  were  a  call  upon  men  to 
trust  Him  and  accept  His  messenger.  They  spoke  of 
gifts  still  more  akin  to  the  Divine  nature,  of  gifts  not 
merely  physical,  but  spiritual  and  eternal  Possibly 
in  allusion  to  these  intelligible  and  earthly  signs  our 
Lord  said  to  Nicodemus,  "  If  I  have  told  you  earthly 
things,  and  ye  believe  not,  how  shall  ye  believe,  if  I 
tell  you  of  heavenly  things  ?  "  If  ye  are  blind  to  these 
earthly  signs,  what  hope  is  there  of  your  understanding 
things  eternal  in  their  own  impalpable  essence  ? 

III.  What  were  the  true  reasons  of  our  Lord's 
rejection  ? 

I.  The  first  reason  no  doubt  was  that  He  so  thoroughly 
disappointed  the  popular  Messianic  expectation.  This 
comes  out  very  conspicuously  in  His  rejection  in 
Galilee,  where  the  people  were  on  the  point  of  crowning 
Him,  but  at  once  deserted  Him  as  soon  as  it  became 
clear  that  His  idea  of  the  needs  of  men  was  quite 
different  from  their's.  The  same  reason  lies  at  the 
root  of  His  rejection  by  the  authorities  and  people  of 
Jerusalem.  This  is  brought  out  in  this  eighth  chapter. 
"  Many  had  believed  on  Him  "  (ver.  30)  ;  that  is  to  say, 
they  believed  on  Him  as  Nicodemus  had  believed ;  they 
believed  He  was  the  Christ.  But  as  soon  as  He 
explained  to  them  (vers.  32,  34)  that  the  freedom  He 
brought  was  a  freedom  attained  through  knowing  the 
truth,  a  freedom  from  sin,  they  either  were  unable  to 
understand  Him  or  were  repelled,  and  from  believers 
became  enemies  and  assailants. 

It  may  have  been  with  reluctance  our  Lord  disclosed 
to  those  who  had  some  faith  in  Him,  that  in  order  to 
be  His  disciples  (ver.  31)  they  must  accept  His  word, 
and  find  in  it  the  freedom  He  proclaimed.     He  knew 


vm.2i'S9']   JESUS  REJECTED  IN  JERUSALEM.  397 

that  this  was  not  the  freedom  they  sought.  But  it 
was  compulsory  that  He  should  leave  them  in  no 
dubiety  regarding  the  blessings  He  promised.  It  was 
impossible  that  they  should  accept  the  eternal  life  He 
brought  to  them,  unless  there  was  quickened  within 
them  some  genuine  desire  for  it.  For  what  prevented 
them  from  receiving  Him  was  not  a  mere  easily  rectified 
blunder  about  the  Messianic  office,  it  was  an  alienation 
in  heart  from  a  spiritual  conception  of  God.  And 
accordingly  in  depicting  the  climax  of  unbelief  John  is 
careful  in  this  chapter  to  bring  out  that  our  Lord 
traced  His  rejection  by  the  Jews  to  their  inveterate 
repugnance  to  spiritual  life,  and  their  consequent 
blinding  of  themselves  to  the  knowledge  of  God.  "  He 
that  is  of  God  heareth  God's  words  :  ye  therefore  hear 
them  not,  because  ye  are  not  of  God  "  (ver.  47).  "  Ye 
seek  to  kill  Me,  because  My  word  hath  no  place  in 
you  [finds  no  room  in  you].  I  speak  that  which  I 
have  seen  with  My  Father  :  and  ye  do  that  which  ye 
have  seen  with  your  father  "  (vers.  37,  38). 

2.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  therefore,  our  Lord  traces  the 
unbelief  of  the  Jews  to  the  blindness  induced  by 
alienation  from  the  Divine.  They  do  not  understand 
Him,  because  they  have  not  that  thirst  for  truth  and 
righteousness  which  is  the  best  interpreter  of  His 
words.  "  Why  do  ye  not  understand  My  speech  ? 
even  because  ye  cannot  bear  My  word."  It  was  this 
word  of  His,  the  truth  regarding  sin  and  the  way  out  of 
it,  which  sifted  men.  Those  who  eagerly  welcomed 
salvation  from  sin  because  they  knew  that  bondage  to 
sin  was  the  worst  of  bondages  (ver.  34),  accepted  Christ's 
word,  and  continued  in  it,  and  so  became  His  disciples 
(ver.  31).  Those  who  rejected  Him  were  prompted  to 
do  so  by  their  indifference  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  as 


291  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

exibited  in  the  person  of  Christ.  He  was  not  their 
ideal.  And  He  was  not  their  ideal,  because  however 
much  they  boasted  of  being  God's  people  God  was  not 
their  ideal.  "  If  God  were  your  Father,  ye  would  love 
Me;  for  I  proceeded  forth  and  came  from  God"  (ver.  42). 
Jesus  is  conscious  of  adequately  representing  God,  so 
that  to  be  repelled  by  Him  is  to  be  repelled  by  God. 
It  is  really  God  in  Him  that  they  dislike.  This  is  not 
only  His  own  judgment  of  the  matter.  It  is  not  a 
mere  fancy  of  His  own  that  He  truly  represents  the 
Father,  for  "neither  came  I  of  Myself,  but  He  sent 
me."  He  was  sent  into  the  world  because  He  could 
represent  the  Father. 

The  rejection  of  Jesus  by  the  Jews  was  therefore 
due  to  their  moral  condition.  Their  condition  is  such 
that  our  Lord  does  not  scruple  pungently  to  say,  "  Ye 
are  of  your  father  the  devil."  Their  blindness  to  the 
truth  and  virulent  opposition  to  Him  proved  their 
kinship  with  him  who  was  from  the  beginning  a  liar 
and  a  murderer.  They  are  so  completely  under  the 
influence  of  sin  that  they  are  unable  to  appreciate 
emancipation  from  it.  They  look  for  satisfaction  so 
determinedly  in  an  anti-spiritual  direction,  that  they 
are  positively  enraged  at  One  who  certainly  has  power, 
but  who  steadfastly  uses  it  for  spiritual  purposes.  Out 
of  this  condition  they  can  be  rescued  by  believing  in 
Christ.  Into  the  mystery  which  surrounds  the  possi- 
bility that  such  a  belief  should  be  cherished  by  any 
one  in  this  condition,  our  Lord  does  not  here  enter. 
That  it  is  possible,  He  implies  by  blaming  them  for 
not  believing. 

It  is,  then,  those  who  are  unconscious  of  the  bondage 
of  sin  who  reject  Christ.  One  of  the  sayings  with 
which    He   sifted    His   profoundly   attached   followers 


vm.2i-S9.]   JESUS  REJECTED  IN  JERUSALEM.  »99 

from  the  mass  is  this :  "  If  ye  continue  in  My  word, 
then  are  ye  My  disciples  i  deed;  and  ye  shall  know 
the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  The 
"  word "  of  which  Jesus  here  speaks  is  His  whole 
revelation,  all  He  taught  by  word  and  action,  by  His 
own  habitual  conduct  and  by  His  miracles.  This  it  is 
which  gives  knowledge  of  the  truth.  That  is  to  say, 
all  the  truth  which  men  require  for  living  they  have  in 
Christ.  All  knowledge  of  duty,  and  all  that  knowledge 
of  our  spiritual  relations,  out  of  which  we  can  draw 
f)erennial  motive  and  unfailing  hope,  we  have  in  Him. 
The  "  truth  "  disclosed  in  Christ,  and  which  emancipates 
from  sin,  must  not  be  too  carefully  defined.  But  while 
leaving  it  in  all  its  comprehensiveness,  it  must  be  noted 
that  the  truth  which  especially  emancipates  from  sin 
and  gives  us  our  place  as  children  in  God's  house,  is 
the  truth  revealed  in  Christ's  Sonship,  the  truth  that 
God,  in  love  and  forgiveness,  claims  us  as  His  children. 
In  its  own  measure  every  truth  we  learn  gives  us  a 
sense  of  liberty.  The  truth  emancipates  from  super- 
stition, from  timorous  waiting  upon  the  opinion  of 
authorities,  from  all  that  cramps  mental  movement  and 
stunts  mental  growth;  but  the  freedom  here  in  view 
is  freedom  from  sin,  and  the  truth  which  brings  that 
freedom  is  the  truth  about  God  our  Father,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  He  has  sent 


XX. 

JWirr  GIVEN  TO  THE  BUNm, 


SOI 


"  And  as  He  passed  by,  He  saw  a  man  blind  from  his  birth.     And 

His  disciples  asked  Him,  saying,  Rabbi,  who  did  sin,  this  man,  or  his 
parents,  that  he  should  be  bom  blind?  Jesus  answered,  Neither  did 
this  man  sin,  nor  his  parents :  but  that  the  works  of  God  should  be 
made  manifest  in  him.  We  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that  sent 
Me,  while  it  is  day :  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work.  When 
I  am  in  the  world,  I  am  the  Light  of  the  world.  When  He  had  thus 
spoken.  He  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the  spittle,  and 
anointed  his  eyes  with  the  clay,  and  said  unto  him.  Go,  wash  in  the 
pool  of  Siloam  (which  is  by  interpretation,  Sent).  He  went  away, 
therefore,  and  washed,  and  came  seeing.  The  neighbours  therefore, 
and  they  which  saw  him  aforetime,  that  he  was  a  beggar,  said.  Is  not 
this  he  that  sat  and  begged  ?  Others  said,  It  is  he :  others  said,  No, 
but  he  is  like  him.  He  said,  I  am  he.  They  said  therefore  unto  him. 
How  then  were  thine  eyes  opened?  He  answered,  The  man  that  is 
called  Jesus  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and  said  unto  me,  Go 
to  Siloam,  and  wash :  so  I  went  away  and  washed,  and  I  received 
sight.  And  they  said  unto  him,  Where  is  He  ?  He  saith,  I  know  not. 
They  bring  to  the  Pharisees  him  that  aforetime  was  blind.  Now  it 
was  the  sabbath  on  the  day  when  Jesus  made  the  clay,  and  opened  his 
eyes.  Again  therefore  the  Pharisees  also  asked  him  how  he  received 
his  sight  And  he  said  unto  them,  He  put  clay  upon  mine  eyes,  and  I 
washed,  and  do  see.  Some  therefore  of  the  Pharisees  said,  This  man 
is  not  from  God,  because  He  keepeth  not  the  sabbath.  But  others 
said,  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  such  signs  ?  And  there  was 
a  division  among  them.  They  say  therefore  unto  the  blind  man  again. 
What  sayest  thou  of  Him,  in  that  He  opened  thine  eyes?  And  he 
said.  He  is  a  prophet.  The  Jews  therefore  did  not  believe  concerning 
him,  that  he  had  been  blind,  and  had  received  his  sight,  until  they 
called  the  parents  of  him  that  had  received  his  sight,  and  asked  them, 
saying,  Is  this  your  son,  who  ye  say  was  bom  blind  ?  how  then  doth  he 
now  see  ?  His  parents  answered  and  said,  We  know  that  this  is  our 
son,  and  that  he  was  born  blind  :  but  how  he  now  seeth,  we  know  not ; 
or  who  opened  his  eyes,  we  know  not :  ask  him ;  he  is  of  age ;  he 
shall  speak  for  himself.  These  things  said  his  parents,  because  they 
feared  the  Jews :  for  the  Jews  had  agreed  already,  that  if  any  man 
should  confess  Him  to  be  Christ,  he  should  be  put  out  of  the  synagogue. 
Therefore  said  his  parents,  He  is  of  age ;  ask  him.     So  they  called  a 

i°3 


Mcond  time  the  man  that  was  blind,  and  said  nnto  him,  Give  glory 
to  God :  we  know  that  this  man  is  a  sinner.  He  therefore  answered. 
Whether  He  be  a  sinner,  I  know  not :  one  thing  I  know,  that,  whereas 
I  was  blind,  now  I  see.  They  said  therefore  unto  him.  What  did  He 
to  thee?  how  opened  He  thine  eyes?  He  answered  them,  I  told  you 
even  now,  and  ye  did  not  hear:  wherefore  would  ye  hear  it  again? 
would  ye  also  become  His  disciples  ?  And  they  reviled  him,  and  said, 
Thou  art  His  disciple ;  but  we  are  disciples  of  Moses.  We  know  that 
God  hath  spoken  unto  Moses  :  but  as  for  this  man,  we  know  not 
whence  He  is.  The  man  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Why,  herein  is 
the  marvel,  that  ye  know  not  whence  He  is,  and  yet  He  opened  mine 
eyes.  We  know  that  God  heareth  not  sinners  :  but  if  any  man  be  a 
worshipper  of  God,  and  do  His  will,  him  He  heareth.  Since  the  world 
began  it  was  never  heard  that  any  one  opened  the  eyes  of  a  man  bom 
blind.  If  this  man  were  not  from  God,  He  could  do  nothing.  They 
answered  and  said  unto  him,  Thou  wast  altogether  bom  in  sins,  and 
dost  thou  teach  us?  And  they  cast  him  out.  Jesus  heard  that  they 
had  cast  him  out ;  and  finding  him,  He  paid,  Doet  thou  believe  on  the 
Son  of  God?  He  answered  and  said,  And  who  is  He,  Lord,  that  I 
may  believe  on  Him  ?  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  hast  both  seen  Him, 
and  He  it  is  that  speaketh  with  thee.  And  he  said.  Lord,  I  believe. 
And  he  worshipped  Him.  And  Jesus  said.  For  judgment  came  I  into 
this  world,  that  they  which  see  not  may  see  ;  and  that  they  which  see 
may  become  blind.  Those  of  the  Pharisees  which  were  with  Him 
beard  these  things,  and  said  unto  Him,  Are  we  also  blind  ?  Jesus  said 
unto  them,  If  ye  were  blind,  ye  would  have  no  sin :  but  now  ye  say, 
We  see  I  your  sin  remaineth." — ^JOHN  ix. 


XX 

SIGHT  GIVEN  TO  THE  BUND. 

WE  have  already  considered  the  striking  use  our 
Lord  made  of  the  Temple  illumination  to  pro- 
claim Himself  the  Light  of  the  world.  A  still  more 
striking  physical  symbol  of  this  aspect  of  our  Lord's 
person  and  work  is  found  in  His  healing  of  the  blind 
man.  It  is,  as  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  see, 
the  manner  of  this  evangelist  to  select  for  narration 
those  miracles  of  Christ's  which  are  especially  *'  signs," 
outward  embodiments  of  spiritual  truth.  Accordingly 
he  now  proceeds  to  exhibit  Christ  as  the  Light  of  the 
world  in  His  bestowal  of  sight  on  the  blind. 

The  disciples  of  Jesus  had  apparently  been  exercised 
by  one  of  the  outstanding  problems  of  human  life  which 
perplex  all  thoughtful  men  :  What  regulates  the  dis- 
tribution of  suffering ;  why  is  it  that  while  many  of  the 
most  criminal  and  noxious  men  are  prosperous  and 
exempt  from  pain,  many  of  the  gentlest  and  best  are 
broken  and  tortured  by  constant  suffering  ?  Why  is  it 
that  inexplicable  suffering  seems  so  often  to  fall  on  the 
wrong  people,  on  the  innocent  not  on  the  guilty,  on 
those  who  already  are  of  refined  and  chastened  disposi- 
tion, not  on  those  who  seem  urgently  to  need  correction 
and  the  rod  ?  Is  sufifering  sent  that  character  may  be 
impi  oved  ?     But  in  Job's  case  it  was  sent  because  he 

305  20 


3o6  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

was  already  irreproachable,  not  to  make  him  so.  Is  it 
sent  because  of  a  man's  early  transgressions  ?  But 
this  man  was  born  blind  ;  his  punishment  preceded 
any  possible  transgression  of  his  own.  Was  he  then 
the  victim  of  his  parent's  wrongdoing  ?  But  suffering 
is  often  the  result  of  accident  or  of  malice,  or  of  mis- 
take, which  cannot  be  referred  to  hereditary  sin.  Are 
we  then  to  accept  the  belief  that  this  world  is  far  from 
perfect  as  yet ;  that  God  begins  at  the  beginning  in  all 
His  works,  and  only  slowly  works  towards  perfection, 
and  that  in  the  progress,  and  while  we  are  only  moving 
towards  an  eternal  state,  there  must  be  pains  manifold 
and  bitter  ?  They  are  the  shavings  and  sawdust  and 
general  disorder  of  the  carpenter's  workshop,  which  are 
necessarily  thrown  oflF  in  the  making  of  the  needful 
article.*  It  is  to  it,  to  the  finished  work,  we  must  look, 
and  not  to  the  shavings,  if  we  would  understand  and 
be  reconciled  to  the  actual  state  of  things  around  us. 

When  Jesus  said,  "Neither  hath  this  man  sinned, 
nor  his  parents,  but  that  the  works  of  God  should  be 
made  manifest  in  him,"  He  of  course  did  not  mean  to 
suggest  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  suffering  for 
individual  or  hereditary  sin.  By  breaking  the  great 
moral  laws  of  human  life  men  constantly  involve  both 
themselves  and  their  children  in  lifelong  suffering. 
There  is  often  so  direct  a  connection  between  sin  and 
suffering  that  the  most  hardened  and  insensible  do  not 
dream  of  denying  that  their  pain  and  misery  are  self- 
inflicted.  Sometimes  the  connection  is  obscure,  and 
though  every  one  else  sees  the  source  of  a  man's  mis- 
fortunes in  his  own  careless  habits,  or  indolence,  or  bad 
temper,  he  himself  may  constantly  blame  his  circum- 

'  See  the  Meditations  of  Maicus  Aorelius. 


Is.)  SIGHT  GIVEN  TO  THE  BLIND.  307 

Stances,  his  ill-luck,  his  partners,  or  his  friends.  It 
was  our  Lord's  intention  to  warn  the  disciples  against 
a  curious  and  uncharitable  scrutiny  of  any  man's  life  to 
find  the  cause  of  his  misfortunes.  We  have  to  do 
rather  with  the  future  than  with  the  past,  rather  with 
the  question  how  we  can  help  the  man  out  of  his  diffi- 
culties, than  with  the  question  how  he  got  himself  into 
them.  The  one  question  may  indeed  be  involved  in 
the  other,  but  all  suffering  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  field  in 
which  the  works  of  God  may  be  exhibited.  Wherever 
suffering  has  come  from,  there  can  be  no  manner  of 
doubt  that  it  calls  out  all  that  is  best  in  human  nature — 
sympathy,  self-denial,  gentleness,  compassion,  forgive- 
ness of  spirit,  patient  forbearance,  all  that  is  most 
Divine  in  man.  To  seek  for  the  cause  of  suffering  in 
order  to  blame  and  exonerate  ourselves  from  all 
responsibility  and  claim  on  our  pity  and  charity  is  one 
thing,  quite  another  to  inquire  into  the  cause  for  the 
sake  of  more  effectually  dealing  with  the  effect.  No 
matter  what  has  caused  the  suffering,  here  certainly  it 
is  always  with  us,  and  what  we  have  to  do  with  it  is  to 
find  in  it  material  and  opportunity  for  a  work  of  God. 
To  rid  the  world  of  evil,  of  wretchedness,  lonely  sorrow, 
destitution,  and  disease  is,  if  anything,  the  work  of 
God ;  if  God  is  doing  anything  He  is  carrying  the 
world  on  towards  perfection,  and  if  the  world  is  ever  to 
be  perfect  it  must  be  purged  from  agony  and  wretched- 
ness, irrespective  of  where  these  come  from.  Our  duty 
then,  if  we  would  be  fellow-workers  with  God  in  what 
is  real  and  abiding,  is  plain. 

To  the  work  of  healing  the  blind  man  Jesus  at  once 
applies  Himself.  While  the  lifted  stones  were  yet  in 
His  pursuer's  hands  He  paused  to  express  His  Father's 
love.     He  must.  He  says,  work  the  works  of  Him  who 


3o8  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

sent  Him.  He  represented  the  Father  not  mechani- 
cally, not  by  getting  well  off  by  rote  the  task  His 
Father  had  set  Him,  not  by  a  studied  imitation,  but 
by  being  Himself  of  one  mind  with  the  Father,  by 
loving  that  blind  man  just  as  the  Father  loved  him, 
and  by  doing  for  him  just  what  the  Father  would  have 
done  for  him.  We  do  the  works  of  God  when  in  our 
measure  we  do  the  same,  becoming  eyes  to  the  blind, 
feet  to  the  lame,  help  any  way  to  the  helpless.  We 
cannot  lay  our  hand  on  the  diseased  and  heal  them ; 
we  cannot  give  sight  to  the  blind  and  make  a  man  thus 
feel,  this  is  God's  power  reaching  to  me ;  this  is  God 
stooping  to  me  and  caring  for  my  infirmity;  but  we 
can  cause  men  to  feel  that  God  is  thinking  of  them,  and 
has  sent  help  through  us  to  them.  If  we  will  only  be 
humble  enough  to  run  the  risk  of  failure,  and  of  being 
held  cheap,  if  we  will  only  in  sincerity  take  by  the 
hand  those  who  are  ill-off  and  strive  to  better  them, 
then  these  persons  will  think  of  God  gratefully ;  or  if 
they  do  not,  there  is  no  better  way  of  making  them 
think  of  God,  for  this  was  Christ's  way,  who  had  rarely 
need  to  add  much  explanation  of  His  kind  deeds,  but 
letting  them  speak  for  themselves,  heard  the  people 
giving  God  the  glory.  If  men  can  be  induced  to  believe 
in  the  love  of  their  fellow-men,  they  are  well  on  the 
road  to  belief  in  the  love  of  God.  And  even  though  it 
should  not  be  so,  though  all  our  endeavours  to  help 
men  should  fail  to  make  them  think  of  God  as  their 
helper,  who  has  sent  us  and  all  help  to  them,  yet  we 
have  helped  them,  and  some  at  least  of  God's  love  for 
these  suffering  people  has  got  itself  expressed  through 
us.  God  has  got  at  least  a  little  of  His  work  done,  has 
in  one  direction  stopped  the  spread  of  evil 

Neither  are  we  to  wait  until  we  can  do  things  on  4 


iM.1  SIGHT  GIVEN  TO  THE  BUND.  909 

great  scale,  and  attack  the  evils  of  human  life  with 
elaborate  machinery.  Our  Lord  was  not  a  great 
organiser.  He  did  not  busy  Himself  with  forming 
societies  for  this,  that,  and  the  other  charitable  work. 
He  did  not  harangue  assemblies  convened  to  consider 
the  relief  of  the  poor ;  He  did  not  press  the  abolition 
of  slavery  ;  He  did  not  found  orphanages  or  hospitals  ; 
but  "  as  He  passed  by,"  He  saw  one  blind  man,  and 
judged  this  a  call  sufficiently  urgent.  Sometimes  we 
feel  that,  confronted  as  we  are  with  a  whole  world  full 
of  deep-rooted  and  inveterate  evils,  it  is  useless  giving 
assistance  to  an  individual  here  and  there.  It  is  like 
trying  to  dry  up  the  ocean  with  a  sponge.  We  feel 
impatient  with  individual  acts,  and  crave  national  action 
and  radical  measures.  And  that  is  very  well,  so  long 
as  we  do  not  omit  to  use  the  opportunities  we  actually 
have  of  doing  even  little  kindnesses,  of  undergirding 
the  shattered  life  of  individuals,  and  so  enabling  them 
to  do  what  otherwise  they  could  not  do.  But  we  shall 
never  do  our  part,  either  to  individuals  or  on  a  large 
scale,  until  we  apprehend  that  it  is  only  through  us  and 
others  that  God  works,  and  that  when  we  pass  by  a 
needy  person  we  prevent  God's  love  from  reaching 
him,  and  disappoint  the  purpose  of  God.  It  was  this 
feeling  that  imparted  to  Christ  so  intense  and  wakeful 
an  energy.  He  felt  it  was  God's  work  He  was  on 
earth  to  do.  "  I  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that 
sent  Me  while  it  is  day."  He  recognised  that  God  was 
in  the  world  looking  with  compassion  on  all  human 
sorrow,  but  that  this  compassion  could  find  expression 
only  through  His  own  instrumentality  and  that  of  all 
other  men.  We  are  the  channels  or  pipes  through 
which  the  inexhaustible  source  of  God's  goodness 
flows  to  the  world ;  but  it  is  in  our  power  to  turn  oflf 


310  AHE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

that  flow,  and  prevent  it  from  reaching  those  for  whom 
it  is  intended.  We  do  less  than  we  ought  for  qui 
fellov/-men  until  we  believe  thit  we  are  the  bearers  of 
God's  gifts  to  men ;  that  to  however  few  a  number  and 
in  however  small  a  way  we  are  the  media  through 
which  God  finds  way  f^r  His  love  to  men,  and  that  if 
we  refuse  to  do  what  we  can  we  disappoint  and  thwart 
His  love  and  His  purpose  of  good. 

The  blind  man,  with  the  quickened  hearing  of  the 
blind,  heard  with  interest  the  talk  about  hiras elf ;  and 
a  new  awe  fell  upon  his  spirit  as  he  heard  that  his 
blindness  was  to  be  the  object  of  a  work  of  God.  He 
had  learned  to  judge  of  men  by  the  tones  of  their 
voice ;  and  the  firm,  clear,  penetrating  voice  which 
had  just  uttered  these  all-important  words,  "  I  am 
the  Light  of  the  world,"  could  not,  he  knew,  belong 
to  a  deceiver.  In  other  ways  also  Jesus  compensated 
for  his  lack  of  sight,  and  encouraged  his  faith  by 
touching  him  and  by  laying  on  the  closed  eyes  an 
extemporised  ointment.  But  the  miracle  was  not 
completed  on  the  spot.  The  patient  was  required  to 
go  to  the  pool  of  Siloam  and  wash.  John  tells  us 
that  the  name  Siloam  means  Sent,  and  evidently  con- 
nects this  name  with  the  claim  Jesus  constantly  made 
to  be  the  Sent  of  God. 

But  as  the  peculiarity  of  the  miracle  consisted  in 
this,  that  the  man  was  sent  to  the  pool  to  be  healed, 
we  may  be  sure  this  arrangement  was  made  to  meet 
some  element  in  the  case.  The  man,  with  his  be- 
spattered eyes,  had  to  grope  his  way  to  the  pool,  or 
get  some  kindly  soul  to  lead  him  thjough  the  scolifing, 
doubtful  crowd.  And  whatever  this  taught  the  man 
himself,  it  is  to  us  a  symbol  of  the  truth  that  light 
does  not  come  by  the  instantaneous  touch  of  Christ's 


ix.]  SIGHT  GIVEN  TO  THE  BUND.  31 1 

hand  so  much  as  by  our  faithfully  doing  His  bidding. 
It  is  He  who  gives  and  is  the  light ;  but  it  does  not 
stream  in  suddenly  upon  the  soul,  but  comes  upon 
the  man  who,  though  blindly,  yet  faithfully,  gropes 
his  way  to  the  place  Christ  has  bid  him  to,  and  uses 
the  means  prescribed  by  Him.  "He  that  doeth  the 
will  of  God,  shall  know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be 
of  God."  All  the  commands  of  Christ  are  justified 
in  their  performance ;  and  clear  light  upon  the  mean- 
ing of  much  that  we  are  commanded  to  do  is  only 
found  in  the  doing  of  it. 

But  no  doubt  the  special  significance  of  the  man's 
being  sent  to  the  pool  of  Siloam  lay  in  the  circum- 
stance that  it  was  in  John's  eyes  a  symbol  of  Christ 
Himself.  He  was  sent  by  God.  The  people  found 
it  difficult  to  believe  this,  because  He  had  slowly  and 
unostentatiously  grown  up  like  any  other  man.  "  We 
know  this  Man,  whence  He  is."  "  Is  not  this  the 
carpenter's  Son  ?  "  "  How  sayest  Thou,  I  came  down 
from  heaven  ?  "  They  could  trace  Him  to  His  source. 
He  did  not  appear  fullgrown  in  their  midst,  without 
home,  without  any  who  had  watched  over  His  boyhood 
and  growth.  He  was  like  the  river  whose  sources 
were  known,  not  Hke  the  stream  bursting  in  full 
volume  from  the  rock.  The  people  felt  ashamed  to 
laud  and  celebrate  as  sent  by  God  One  who  had  grown 
up  so  quietly  among  themselves,  and  whose  whole 
demeanour  was  so  unostentatious.  So  had  their 
fathers  despised  the  waters  of  Siloam,  "  because  they 
went  softly ; "  because  there  was  no  mighty  stream 
and  roar,  but  a  quiet  pool  and  a  little  murmuring 
stream. 

So  might  this  blind  man  have  reasoned  when  sent 
to  Siloam  :  "  Why,  herein  is  a  marvellous  thing  that 


3ia  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

I  am  to  be  healed  by  what  has  been  within  my  reach 
since  I  was  born,  by  the  pool  I  used  to  dip  my  hand 
in  when  a  boy,  and  wonder  what  like  was  the  coolness 
to  the  sight  What  hidden  virtue  can  there  be  in 
that  spring  ?  Am  I  not  exposing  myself  to  the 
ridicule  of  all  Jerusalem  ? "  But,  as  this  blind  man's 
conduct  afterwards  showed,  he  was  heedless  of  scorn 
and  independent  of  other  people's  opinion,  a  fearless 
and  trenchant  reasoner  who  stands  alone  in  the  Gospel 
history  for  the  firmness  and  sarcasm  with  which  he 
resisted  the  bullying  tone  of  the  Pharisees,  and  com- 
pelled them  to  face,  even  though  they  would  not 
acknowledge,  the  consequences  of  incontrovertible  facts. 
This  characteristic  contempt  of  contempt,  and  scorn 
of  scorn  served  him  well  now,  for  straight  he  went  to 
the  pool  in  the  face  of  discouragements,  and  had  his 
reward. 

And  the  Pharisees  might,  with  their  gift  of  in- 
terpreting trifles,  have  deduced  from  this  cure  at  the 
humble  and  noiseless  Siloam  some  suggestion  that 
though  Jesus  did  seem  a  powerless  and  common  Man, 
and  though  for  thirty  years  His  life  had  been  flowing 
quietly  on  without  violently  changing  the  established 
order  of  things,  yet  He  might,  like  this  pool,  be  the 
Sent  of  God,  to  whom  if  a  man  came  feeling  his  need 
of  light  and  expecting  in  Him  to  find  it,  there  was  a 
likelihood  of  his  blindness  being  taken  away.  This, 
however,  as  our  Lord  had  afterwards  occasion  to  tell 
them,  was  precisely  what  they  could  not  submit  to  do. 
They  could  not,  in  the  presence  of  a  wondering  and 
scorning  crowd,  admit  that  they  needed  light,  nor  could 
they  condescend  to  seek  for  light  from  so  common- 
place a  source.  And  no  doubt  it  was  a  very  severe 
trial — it  was  well-nigh  impossible,  that  men  in  high 


is.]  SIGHT  GIVEN  TO   THE  BUND.  313 

esteem  for  religious  knowledge,  and  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  reckon  themselves  the  protectors  of 
the  faith,  should  own  that  they  were  in  darkness, 
and  should  seek  to  be  instructed  by  a  youth  from 
the  benighted  district  of  Galilee.  Even  now,  when  the 
dignity  of  Jesus  is  understood,  many  are  prevented 
from  giving  themselves  cordially  to  the  life  He  insists 
upon  by  mere  pride.  There  are  men  in  such  repute 
as  leaders  of  opinion,  and  so  accustomed  to  teach  rather 
than  to  learn,  and  to  receive  homage  rather  than  to 
give  it,  that  scarcely  any  greater  humiliation  could  be 
required  of  them,  than  to  publicly  profess  themselves 
followers  of  Christ.  For  ourselves  even,  who  might 
not  seem  to  have  much  on  which  to  pride  ourselves, 
it  is  yet  sometimes  difficult  to  believe  that  a  mere 
application  to  Christ,  a  mere  sprinkling  of  this  fountain, 
can  change  our  inborn  disposition,  and  make  us  so 
different  from  our  former  selves,  that  close  observers 
might  well  doubt  our  identity,  some  saying,  "  This  is 
be,"  others  more  cautiously  only  venturing  to  assert, 
"He  is  like  him." 

Though  very  pleasant  to  contemplate,  it  is  impossible 
adequately  to  imagine  the  sensations  of  a  man  who 
for  the  first  time  sees  the  world  in  which  he  has  for 
years  been  living  blind.  The  sensation  of  light  itself, 
the  new  sense  of  room  and  distance,  the  expansion  of 
the  nature,  as  if  ushered  into  a  new  and  ampler  world, 
the  glory  of  colour,  of  the  skies,  o^  the  sun,  of  the  moon 
walking  in  brightness,  the  first  recognition  of  the 
"  human  face  Divine,"  and  the  joy  of  watching  the  un- 
spoken speech  of  its  ever-changing  expression,  the 
thrill  of  first  meeting  parent,  child,  or  friend  eye  to 
eye;  the  sublimity  of  the  towers  of  Jerusalem,  the 
glittering  Temple,  the  marble  palaces,  by  the  base  of 


SI4  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

which  he  had  before  dimly  crept,  feeling  with  his  hand 
or  tapping  with  his  stick.  To  a  man  who,  by  the  open- 
ing of  one  sealed  sense,  was  thus  ushered  into  so  new 
a  world,  nothing  can  have  seemed  "too  grand  and 
good  "  for  him  to  expect.  He  was  prepared  to  believe 
in  the  glory  and  perfectness  of  God's  world,  and  in 
Christ's  power  to  bring  him  into  contact  with  that  glory. 
If  the  opening  of  his  bodily  organs  of  vision  had  given 
him  such  exquisite  pleasure,  and  given  hira  entrance  to 
so  new  a  life,  what  might  not  the  opening  of  his  inward 
eye  accomplish  ?  He  had  no  patience  with  the  diffi- 
culties raised  by  those  who  had  not  his  experience : 
"  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  such  miracles  ?  " 
"  Give  God  the  praise ;  we  know  that  this  man  is  a 
sinner."  To  all  these  slow-brained,  bewildered  pedants, 
he  had  but  the  answer,  "Whether  He  be  a  sinner  or 
no,  I  know  not ;  one  thing  I  know,  that,  whereas  I  was 
blind,  now  I  see."  No  arguments,  happily,  can  rob  me 
of  the  immense  boon  this  Man  has  conferred  upon  me. 
If  it  gives  you  any  satisfaction  to  apply  your  paltry 
tests  to  Him,  and  prove  that  He  cannot  have  done  this 
miracle,  you  are  welcome  to  your  conclusions ;  but  you 
cannot  alter  the  facts  that  I  was  blind,  and  that  now  I 
see.  He  who  has  given  me  so  Divine  a  gift  seems  to 
me  to  carry  with  Him  in  some  true  form  the  Divine 
presence.  I  believe  Him  when  He  says,  "I  am  the 
Light  of  the  world." 

This  miracle  was  so  public  as  to  challenge  scrutiny. 
It  was  not  performed  in  the  privacy  of  a  sick-room, 
with  none  present  but  one  or  two  disciples,  who  might 
be  supposed  ready  to  believe  anything.  It  was  per- 
formed on  a  public  character  and  in  broad  day.  And 
we  nowadays  may  congratulate  ourselves  that  there 
was  a  strong  party  in  the  community,  whose  interest 


Dl]  sight  given  to  the  bund.  315 

it  was  to  minimise  the  miracles  of  our  Lord,  and  who 
certainly  did  what  they  could  to  prove  them  fictitious. 
In  the  case  of  this  blind  man,  the  authorities  took  steps 
to  sift  the  matter ;  the  parents  were  summoned,  and 
then  the  man  himself.  They  did  precisely  what 
sceptical  writers  in  recent  years  have  desiderated  ;  they 
instituted  a  jealous  examination  of  the  affair.  And  so 
straightforward  was  the  man's  testimony,  and  so  well- 
known  was  he  in  Jerusalem,  that  instead  of  denying 
the  miracle,  they  adopted  the  easier  course  of  excom- 
municating him  for  acknowledging  Jesus  as  the  Christ. 
Ready  witted,  bold,  and  independent  as  this  man 
was,  he  cannot  but  have  felt  keenly  this  punishment. 
His  hope  of  employment  was  gone,  and  even  his  new 
joy  in  seeing  would  scarcely  compensate  for  his  being 
shunned  by  all  as  a  tainted  person.  Had  he  been  of 
a  fainthearted  and  moody  disposition  he  might  have 
thought  it  had  been  as  well  had  he  been  left  in  his 
blindness,  and  not  become  an  object  of  abhorrence  to 
all.  But  Jesus  heard  of  his  punishment,  and  sought 
him  out,  and  declared  to  him  more  fully  who  He 
Himself  was.  He  thus  gave  to  the  man  assurance  of 
a  friendship  outweighing  in  value  what  he  had  lost. 
He  made  him  feel  that  though  cut  off  from  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  visible  Church,  he  was  made  a  member  of 
the  true  commonwealth  of  men — numbered  among  those 
who  are  united  in  friendship,  and  in  work,  and  in 
destiny  to  Him  who  heads  the  real  work  of  God,  and 
promotes  the  abiding  interests  of  men.  And  such  is 
ever  the  reward  of  those  who  make  sacrifices  for 
Christ,  who  lose  employment  or  friends  by  too  boldly 
confessing  their  indebtedness  to  Him.  They  will  them- 
selves tell  you  that  Christ  makes  up  to  them  for  their 
losses  by  imparting  clearer  knowledge  of  Himself,  by 


3itf  THE  GOSPEL   OF  ST.  JOHN. 


making  them  conscious  that  they  are  remembered  by 
Him,  and  by  giving  them  a  conscience  void  of  offence, 
and  a  spirit  superior  to  worldly  misfortunes. 

As  a  final  reflection  on  the  miracle  and  its  results 
our  Lord  says :  "  For  judgement  am  I  come  into  the 
world,  that  they  which  see  not  might  see,  and  that 
they  which  see  might  be  made  blind."  A  kind  of  sad 
humour  betrays  itself  in  His  language,  as  He  sees 
how  easily  felt-blindness  is  removed,  but  how  absolutely 
blind  presumed  knowledge  is.  Humility  ever  wins  the 
day.  The  blind  man  now  saw  because  he  knew  he 
was  blind,  and  trusted  that  Christ  could  give  him  sight ; 
the  Pharisees  were  stone-blind  to  the  world  Christ 
opened  to  them  and  carried  in  His  person,  because 
they  thought  that  already  they  had  all  the  knowledge 
they  required.  And  wherever  Christ  comes  men  thus 
form  themselves  around  Him  in  two  groups,  blind  and 
seeing.  **  For  judgment,"  for  testing  and  dividing  men, 
He  is  come.  Nothing  goes  more  searchingly  into  a 
man's  character  than  Christ's  offer  to  be  to  him  the 
Light  of  life,  to  be  his  leader  to  a  perfect  life.  This 
offer  discloses  what  the  man  is  content  with,  and  what 
he  really  sighs  for.  This  offer,  which  confronts  us 
with  the  possibility  of  living  in  close  fellowship  and 
love  with  God,  discloses  whether  our  real  bent  is 
towards  what  is  pure,  and  high,  and  holy,  or  towards 
what  is  earthly.  This  man  who  eagerly  asked,  "Who 
is  the  Son  of  God  that  I  might  believe  on  Him?" 
acknowledged  his  blindness  and  his  longing  for  light, 
and  he  got  it.  The  Pharisees,  who  claimed  to  see, 
condemned  themselves  by  their  rejection  of  Christ. 
"If,"  says  our  Lord,  "ye  were  blind,  if  you  were 
ignorant  like  this  poor  man,  your  ignorance  would 
excuse  you.     But  now  ye  say.  We  see,  you  boast  that 


fab]  SIGHT  GIVEN  TO  THE  BUND.  317 

you  can  discern  the  Christ,  you  have  tests  of  all  kinds 
that  you  plume  yourselves  on,  therefore  your  darkness 
and  your  sin  remain."  That  is  to  say,  the  one  sufficient 
test  of  Christ's  claim  is  need.  He  presents  Himself 
as  the  Light  of  the  world,  but  if  we  are  unconscious 
of  darkness  we  cannot  appreciate  Him.  But  surely 
there  are  many  of  us  who  feel  as  if  we  were  born  blind, 
unable  to  see  things  spiritual  as  we  ought ;  as  if  we 
had  a  sense  too  little,  and  could  not  find  our  way 
satisfactorily  through  this  life.  We  hear  of  God  with 
the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  do  not  see  Him  ;  we  have 
not  the  close  and  unmistakable  discernment  that  comes 
by  sight. 


XXI. 

JESUS   THE  GOOD  SHEPH£BJX 


319 


"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  entereth  not  by  the  door 
into  the  fold  of  the  sheep,  but  climbeth  up  some  other  way,  the  same  is 
a  thief  and  a  robber.  But  he  that  entereth  in  by  the  door  is  the 
shepherd  of  the  sheep.  To  him  the  porter  openeth  ;  and  the  sheep 
hear  his  voice  :  and  he  calleth  his  own  sheep  by  name,  and  leadeth 
them  out.  When  he  hath  put  forth  all  his  own,  he  goeth  before 
them,  and  the  sheep  follow  him  :  for  they  know  his  voice.  And  a 
stranger  will  they  not  follow,  but  will  flee  from  him  :  for  they  know 
not  the  voice  of  strangers.  This  parable  spake  Jesus  unto  them  :  but 
they  understood  not  what  things  they  were  which  He  spake  unto  them. 
Jesus  therefore  said  unto  them  again,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
I  am  the  door  of  the  sheep.  All  that  came  before  me  are  thieves  and 
robbers  :  but  the  sheep  did  not  hear  them.  I  am  the  door  :  by  Me  if 
any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved,  and  shall  go  in  and  go  out,  and 
shall  find  pasture.  The  thief  cometh  not,  but  that  he  may  steal,  and 
kill,  and  destroy :  I  came  that  they  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it 
abundantly.  I  am  the  good  shepheid  :  the  good  shepherd  layeth  down 
His  life  for  the  sheep.  He  that  is  a  hireling,  and  not  a  shepherd, 
whose  own  the  sheep  are  not,  beholdeth  the  wolf  coming,  and  leaveth 
the  sheep,  and  fleeth,  and  the  wolf  snatcheth  them,  and  scattereth  them  : 
he  fleeth  because  he  is  a  hireling,  and  careth  not  for  the  sheep.  I  am 
the  good  shepherd  ;  and  I  know  Mine  own,  and  Mine  own  know  Me, 
even  as  the  Father  knoweth  Me,  and  I  know  the  Father  ;  and  I  lay 
down  My  life  for  the  sheep.  And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of 
this  fold  :  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  My  voice  ;  and 
they  shall  become  one  flock,  one  shepherd.  Therefore  doth  the  Father 
love  Me,  because  I  lay  down  My  life,  that  I  may  take  it  again.  No 
one  taketh  it  away  from  Me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  Myself.  I  have 
power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again.  This  com- 
mandment  received  I  from  My  Father." — ^John  z.  i-i8. 


s« 


XXI. 

JESUS  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD. 

THIS  paragraph  continues  the  conversation  which 
arose  out  of  the  healing  of  the  blind  man.  Jesus 
has  pointed  out  to  the  Pharisees  that  they  are  aifected 
with  a  more  deplorable  blindness  than  the  born-blind 
beggar ;  He  now  proceeds  to  contrast  their  harsh 
treatment  of  the  healed  man  with  His  own  care  of  him, 
and  uses  this  contrast  as  evidence  of  the  illegitimacy  of 
their  usurpation  of  authority  and  the  legitimacy  of  His 
own  claim.  It  has  been  related  (ix.  34)  that  the  Jews 
had  excommunicated  the  blind  man  because  he  had 
presumed  to  think  for  himself,  and  acknowledge  as  the 
Christ  One  regarding  whom  they  had  quietly  enacted 
(ver.  22)  that  if  any  one  acknowledged  Him  he  should 
be  banished  from  the  synagogue.  Very  naturally  the 
poor  man  would  feel  that  this  was  a  heavy  price  to 
pay  for  his  eyesight.  Brought  up  as  he  had  been  to 
consider  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  Jerusalem  as 
representing  the  Divine  voice,  he  would  feel  that  this 
excommunication  cut  him  off  from  fellowship  with  all 
good  men,  and  from  the  sources  of  a  hopeful  and  godly 
life.  Therefore,  in  pity  for  this  poor  sheep,  and  in 
indignation  at  those  who  thus  assumed  authority,  Jesus 
explicitly  declares,  "  I  am  the  door."  Not  through  the 
word  of  men  who  tyrannize  over  the  flock  to  serve 
their  own  ends  are  you  either  admitted  to  or  «iebarred 

321  2t 


}M  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

from  the  real  sources  of  spiritual  life  and  fellowship 
with  the  true  and  good.  Through  Me  only  can  you 
find  access  to  permanent  security  and  the  free  enjoy- 
ment of  all  spiritual  nutriment :  "  By  Me  if  any  man 
enter  in  he  shall  be  saved,  and  shall  go  in  and  out,  and 
find  pasture." 

The  primary  object,  then,  of  this  allegorical  passage 
is  to  impart  to  those  who  believe  in  Jesus  the  truest 
independence  of  spirit.  This  our  Lord  acoomplishes 
by  explicitly  claiming  for  Himself  the  sole  right  of 
admission  or  rejection  from  the  true  fold  of  God's 
people.  He  comes  into  direct  collision  with  the  eccle- 
siastical authorities,  denying  that  they  are  the  true 
spiritual  guides  of  the  people,  and  presenting  Himself 
as  the  supreme  authority  in  matters  spiritual.  This 
uncompromising  assertion  of  His  own  authority  He 
makes  in  parabolic  language;  but  that  no  one  may 
misapprehend  His  meaning  He  Himself  appends  the 
interpretation.  And  in  this  interpretation  it  will  be 
observed  that,  while  the  great  ideas  are  explained  and 
applied,  there  is  no  attempt  to  make  these  ideas  square 
with  the  figure  in  every  particular.  In  the  figure,  for 
example,  the  Door  and  the  Shepherd  are  necessarily 
distinct ;  but  our  Lord  does  not  on  that  account  scruple 
to  apply  both  figures  to  Himself.  The  rigidly  logical 
explanation  is  thrown  to  the  winds  to  make  way  for 
the  substantial  teaching. 

I.  First,  then,  Jesus  here  claims  to  be  the  sole  means 
of  access  to  security  and  life  eternal.  "  I  am  the 
door :  by  Me  if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved, 
and  shall  go  in  and  out,  and  find  pasture."  Prompted 
by  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  the  blind  man,  this 
expression  would  by  him  be  interpreted  as  meaning, 
These  arrogant  Pharisees,  then,  can  after  all  do  me  no 


*.  I-I8.1  JESUS  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD.  323 

injury ;  they  can  neither  exclude  nor  admit ;  but  only 
this  Person,  who  has  shown  Himself  so  compassionate, 
so  courageous,  so  ready  to  be  my  champion  and 
my  friend.  He  is  the  door.  And  this  simple  and 
memorable  claim  has  remained  through  all  the  Christian 
centuries  the  bulwark  against  ecclesiastical  tyranny, 
not  indeed  preventing  injustice  and  outrage,  but  entirely 
robbing  excommunication  of  its  sting  in  the  conscience 
that  is  right  with  its  Lord.  Outcast  from  the  fellow- 
ship and  privileges  of  so-called  Churches  of  Christ  many 
have  been,  who  had  yet  the  assurance  in  their  own 
heart  that  by  their  attachment  to  Him  they  had  entered 
into  a  more  lasting  fellowship  and  unspeakably  higher 
privileges. 

By  this  claim  to  be  the  Door,  Jesus  claims  to  be  the 
Founder  of  the  one  permanent  society  of  men.  Through 
Him  al(jne  have  men  access  to  a  position  of  security 
to  association  with  all  that  is  worthiest  among  men,  to 
a  never-failing  life  and  a  boundless  freedom.  He  did 
not  use  His  words  at  random,  and  this  at  least  is  con- 
tained in  them.  He  gathers  men  round  His  Person, 
and  assures  us  that  He  holds  the  key  to  life ;  that  if 
He  admits  us,  words  of  exclusion  pronounced  by  others 
are  but  idle  breath  ;  that  if  He  excludes  us,  the  approval 
and  applause  of  a  world  will  not  waft  us  in.  No  claim 
could  possibly  be  greater. 

n.  Jesus  also  claims  to  be  the  Good  Shepherd,  and 
sets  Himself  in  contrast  to  hirelings  and  robbers.  This 
claim  He  proves  in  five  particulars  :  He  uses  a  legiti- 
mate mode  of  access  to  the  sheep ;  His  object  is  the 
welfare  of  the  sheep ;  His  Spirit  is  self-devoted ;  He 
knows  and  is  known  by  His  sheep  ;  and  all  He  does 
the  Father  has  given  Him  commandment  to  do. 

I.  First,  then,  Jesus   proves   His  claim  to  be  the 


324  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

Good  Shepherd  by  using  the  legitimate  means  of  access 
to  the  sheep.  He  enters  by  the  door.  The  general 
description  of  the  relation  between  sheep  and  shepherd 
was  drawn  from  what  might  be  seen  any  morning  in 
Palestine.  At  night  the  sheep  are  driven  into  a  fold 
that  is,  a  walled  enclosure,  such  as  may  be  seen  on 
our  own  sheep  farms,  only  with  higher  walls  foi 
protection,  and  with  a  strongly-barred  door  in  place 
of  a  hurdle  or  light  gate.  Here  the  sheep  rest  all 
night,  guarded  by  a  watchman  or  porter.  In  the 
morning  the  shepherds  come,  and  at  the  recognised 
signal  or  knock  are  admitted  by  the  porter,  and  each 
man  calls  his  own  sheep.  The  sheep,  knowing  his 
voice,  follow  him,  and  if  any  are  lazy,  or  stubborn,  or 
stupid,  he  goes  in  and  drives  them  out,  with  a  gentle, 
kindly  compulsion.  A  stranger's  voice  they  do  not 
recognise,  and  do  not  heed.  Besides,  not  only  do  they 
disregard  a  stranger's  voice,  but  the  porter  also  would  do 
so,  so  that  no  robber  thinks  of  appealing  to  the  porter, 
but  climbs  the  wall  and  lays  hold  of  the  sheep  he  wants. 
Here,  then,  we  have  a  picture  of  the  legitimate  and 
illegitimate  modes  of  finding  access  to  men  and  of 
gaining  power  over  them.  The  legitimate  leader  of 
men  comes  by  the  door  and  invites :  the  illegitimate 
gets  in  anyhow  and  compels.  The  true  shepherd  is 
distinguished  from  the  robber  by  both  the  action  of 
the  porter  and  the  action  of  the  sheep.  But  who  is 
the  porter  who  gives  Christ  access  to  the  fold  ?  Pos- 
sibly, as  some  have  suggested,  the  mind  of  Christ's 
contemporaries  would  revert  to  John  the  Baptist.  The 
claim  of  Jesus  to  deal  with  men  as  their  spiritual 
protector  and  leader  had  been  legitimated  by  John, 
and  no  other  pretended  Messiah  had  been.  And 
certainly,  if  any  individual  is  indicated  by  the  porter, 


X.I-I8.]  JESUS   THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD.  325 

it  must  be  John  the  Baptist.  But  probably  the  figure 
includes  all  that  introduces  Jesus  to  men,  His  own  life, 
His  miracles,  His  loving  words,  providential  circum- 
stances. At  all  events,  He  makes  His  appeal  openly, 
and  has  the  requisite  pass-word.  There  is  nothing  of 
the  thief  or  the  robber  about  His  approach — nothing 
underhand  and  stealthy,  nothing  audaciously  violent. 
On  the  other  hand,  "All  that  ever  came  before  Me 
are  thieves  and  robbers."  The  contemporary  authorities 
in  Jerusalem  had  come  "before"  Jesus,  in  so  far  as 
they  had  prepossessed  the  minds  of  the  people  against 
Him,  and  forcibly  kept  the  sheep  from  Him.  Their 
prior  claims  were  the  great  obstacle  to  His  being 
admitted.  They  held  the  fold  against  Him.  It  must 
have  been  plain  to  the  people  who  heard  His  words 
that  their  own  ecclesiastical  authorities  were  meant. 
And  this  is  not  contradicted  by  the  added  clause,  "  but 
the  sheep  did  not  hear  them,"  For  these  usurping 
leaders  did  not  find  the  ear  of  the  people,  although 
they  terrified  them  into  obedience. 

2.  The  Good  Shepherd  is  identified  and  distinguished 
from  the  hireling  by  His  object  and  His  spirit  of 
devotion — for  these  two  characteristics  may  best  be 
considered  together  (vv.  10-13).  The  hireling  takes  Up 
this  business  of  shepherding  for  his  own  sake,  and 
just  as  he  might  take  to  keeping  swine,  or  watching 
vineyards,  or  making  bricks.  It  is  not  the  work  nor 
the  sheep  he  has  any  interest  in,  but  the  pay.  It  is 
for  himself  he  does  what  he  does.  His  object  is  to 
make  gain  for  himself,  and  his  spirit  is  therefore  a 
spirit  of  self-regard.  Necessarily  he  flees  from  danger, 
having  more  regard  for  himself  than  for  the  sheep. 
The  object  of  the  good  shepherd,  on  the  contrary,  is  to 
find  for  tne  sheep  a  more  abundant  life.     It  is  regard  fqr 


326  THE  GOSPEL  ^  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

them  that  draws  him  to  the  work.  Consequently,  as  all 
love  is  self-devoting,  so  the  regard  of  the  shepherd  for 
the  sheep  prompts  him  to  devote  himself,  and,  at  the  risk 
or  expense  of  his  own  life,  to  save  them  from  danger. 

This  differentiation  of  the  hireling  and  the  good 
shepherd  was,  in  the  first  instance,  exemplified  in  the 
different  conduct  of  the  authorities  and  Jesus  towards 
the  blind  man.  The  authorities  having  fallen  into  the 
idea  which  commonly  ensnares  ecclesiastical  magnates, 
that  the  people  existed  for  them,  not  they  for  the  people, 
persecuted  him  because  he  had  followed  his  conscience : 
Jesus,  by  interposing  in  his  favour,  risked  His  own  life. 
This  collision  with  the  Pharisees  materially  contributed 
to  their  determination  to  put  Him  to  death. 

Probably  our  Lord  intended  that  a  larger  meaning 
should  be  found  in  His  words.  To  all  His  sheep  He 
acts  the  part  of  a  good  shepherd  by  interposing,  at 
the  sacrifice  of  Himself,  between  them  and  all  that 
threatens  (vv.  17,  18).  His  death  was  voluntary,  not 
necessitated  either  by  the  machinations  of  men  or  by 
His  being  human.  His  life  was  His  own,  to  use  as  He 
saw  best ;  and  when  He  laid  it  down  He  did  so  freely. 
It  was  not  that  He  succumbed  to  the  wolf,  to  any 
power  stronger  than  His  own  will  and  His  own  dis- 
cernment of  what  was  right.  We  may  resign  ourselves 
to  death  or  choose  it ;  but  even  though  we  did  not,  we 
could  not  escape  it  Christ  could.  He  "  laid  down  * 
His  life ;  and  He  did  so,  moreover,  that  He  might 
"take  it  again."  His  sheep  were  not  to  be  left  defence- 
less, shepherdless  :  on  the  contrary,  He  died  that  He 
might  free  them  from  all  danger  and  become  to  them 
an  everliving,  omnipresent  Shepherd.  In  these  words 
the  figure  is  lost  in  the  reality. 

In  the  words  themselves,  indeed,  there  is  no  direct 


X.  i-iS.]  JESUS  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD.  327 

suggestion  that  the  penalty  of  sin  is  that  which  chiefly 
threatens  Christ's  sheep,  but  Christ  could  hardly  use 
the  words,  and  His  people  can  hardly  read  them, 
without  having  this  idea  suggested.  It  was  by  in- 
terposing between  us  and  sin  that  our  Shepherd  was 
slain.  At  first  sight,  indeed,  we  seem  to  be  exposed 
to  the  very  danger  that  slew  the  Shepherd  :  the  wolf 
seems  to  be  alive  even  after  slaying  Him.  In  spite  of 
His  death,  we  also  die.  What  then  is  the  danger  from 
which  He  by  His  death  has  saved  us  ? 

The  danger  which  threatened  us  was  not  bodily 
death,  for  from  that  we  are  not  delivered.  But  it  was 
something  with  which  the  death  of  the  body  is  in- 
timately connected.  Bodily  death  is  as  it  were  the 
symptom,  but  not  the  disease  itself.  It  is  that  which 
reveals  the  presence  of  the  pestilence,  but  is  not  itself 
the  real  danger.  It  is  like  the  plague-spot  that  causes 
the  beholder  to  shudder,  though  the  spot  itself  is  only 
slightly  painful.  Now  a  skilful  physician  does  not  treat 
symptoms,  does  not  apply  his  skill  to  allay  superficial 
distresses,  but  endeavours  to  remove  the  radical  disease. 
If  the  eye  becomes  bloodshot  he  does  not  treat  the  eye, 
but  the  general  system.  If  an  eruption  comes  out  on 
the  skin,  he  does  not  treat  the  skin,  but  alters  the  con- 
dition of  the  blood ;  and  it  is  a  small  matter  whether 
the  symptom  goes  on  to  its  natural  issue,  if  thereby 
the  eradication  of  the  disease  is  rather  helped  than 
hindered.  So  it  is  with  death :  it  is  not  our  danger ; 
no  man  can  suppose  that  the  mere  transference  from 
this  state  to  another  is  injurious ;  only,  death  is  in  our 
case  the  symptom  of  a  deep  disease,  of  a  real,  fatal 
ailment  of  soul.  We  know  death  not  as  a  mere  trans- 
ference from  one  world  to  another,  but  as  our  transfer- 
ence from  probation  to  judgment,  which  sin  makes  us 


3*8  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

dread  ;  and  also  as  a  transference  which  in  form  forcibly 
exhibits  the  weakness,  the  imperfection,  the  shame  of 
our  present  state.  Thus  death  connects  itself  with  sin, 
which  our  conscience  tells  us  is  the  great  root  of  all 
our  present  misery.  It  is  to  us  the  symptom  of  the 
punishment  of  sin,  but  the  punishment  itself  is  not  the 
death  of  the  body  but  of  the  soul ;  the  separation  of  the 
soul  from  all  good,  from  all  hope, — in  a  word,  from  God. 
This  is  the  real  danger  from  which  Christ  delivers  us. 
If  this  be  removed,  it  is  immaterial  whether  bodily 
death  remain  or  not;  or  rather,  bodily  death  is  used 
to  help  out  our  complete  deliverance,  as  a  symptom  of 
the  disease  sometimes  promotes  the  cure.  Christ  has 
tasted  death  for  every  man,  and  out  of  each  man's  cup 
has  sucked  the  poison,  so  that  now,  as  we  in  turn 
drink  it,  it  is  but  a  sleeping  draught.  There  was  a 
chemistry  in  His  love  and  perfect  obedience  which 
drew  the  poison  to  His  lips;  and  absorbing  into  His 
own  system  all  the  virulence  of  it,  by  the  immortal 
vigour  of  His  own  constitution.  He  overcame  its  effects, 
and  rose  again  triumphing  over  its  lethargic  potency. 

It  was  not  mere  bodily  death,  then,  which  our  Lord 
endured.  That  was  not  the  wolf  which  the  Good  Shep- 
herd saved  us  from.  It  was  death  with  the  sting  of 
sin  in  it.  It  is  this  fact  which  shows  us,  from  one 
point  of  view,  the  place  of  Christ's  death  in  the  work 
of  atonement.  Death  sets  the  seal  on  a  man's  spiritual 
condition.  It  utters  the  final  word  :  He  that  is  holy, 
let  him  be  holy  still ;  he  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy 
stilL  The  biblical  view  of  death  is  that  it  marks  the 
transition  from  a  state  of  probation  to  a  state  of  retri- 
bution. "  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and 
after  death  the  judgment."  There  is  no  coming  back 
again  to  make  another  preparation  for  judgment     Wc 


«,i.i8.]  JESUS  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD.  3S9 

cannot  have  two  lives,  one  after  the  flesh,  and  another 
after  the  spirit,  but  one  life,  one  death,  one  judgment. 
Bodily  death  therefore  thus  becomes  not  only  the  evi- 
dence of  spiritual  death,  but  its  seal.  But  this,  falling 
upon  Christ,  fell  harmless.  Separation  from  God  must 
be  separation  of  the  will,  separation  accomplished  by 
the  soul's  self.  In  Christ  there  was  no  such  separation. 
Sinners  abide  in  death,  because  not  only  are  they 
judiciall}^  separated,  but  they  are  in  will  and  disposition 
separate.  Plunge  iron  and  wood  into  water :  the  one 
sinks,  the  other  rises  immediately,  cannot  be  kept  under, 
has  a  native  buoyancy  of  its  own  that  brings  it  to  the 
surface,  immerse  it  as  often  as  we  please.  And  Christ 
is  as  the  wood  cut  by  the  prophet,  that  not  only  floats 
itself,  but  brings  to  the  surface  the  heaviest  weight. 

3.  It  is  the  mutual  recognition  of  sheep  and  shepherd 
which  decisively  exhibits  the  difference  between  the 
true  shepherd  and  the  robber.  The  timid  animals 
that  start  and  flee  at  the  sound  of  a  stranger's  voice 
suffer  their  own  shepherd  to  come  among  them  and 
handle  them.  As  the  ownership  of  a  dog  is  easily 
determined  by  his  conduct  towards  two  claimants, 
at  one  of  whom  he  growls  and  round  the  other  of 
whom  he  joyously  barks  and  jumps;  so  you  can  tell 
who  is  the  shepherd  and  who  is  the  stranger  by  the 
different  way  in  which  a  sheep  behaves  in  the  pre- 
sence of  each.  If  a  shepherd's  claim  were  doubtful, 
it  might  be  settled  either  by  his  familiarity  with  its 
marks  and  ways,  or  by  its  familiarity  with  him, 
its  sufferance  of  his  hand,  its  answer  to  his  voice. 
Christ  stakes  His  claim  on  a  similar  mutual  recogni- 
tion. If  the  soul  does  not  respond  to  His  call  and 
follow  Him,  He  will  admit  that  His  claim  is  ill- 
founded.     He  may  require  to  enter  the  fold,  to  rouse 


330  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

the  slumbering  by  a  tap  of  His  staff,  to  lift  the  sickly 
to  use  a  measure  of  severity  with  the  dull  and  slow ; 
but  ultimately  and  mainly  He  bases  His  claim  to  be 
the  true  Leader  and  Lord  of  men  simply  on  His  power 
to  attract  them  to  Him.  If  there  is  not  that  in  Him 
which  causes  us  to  mark  Him  off  from  all  other 
persons,  and  makes  us  expect  different  things  from 
Him,  and  causes  us  to  trust  ourselves  with  Him,  then 
He  does  not  expect  that  any  other  force  will  draw  us 
to  acknowledge  Him. 

The  application  of  this  to  the  attitude  the  blind  man 
liad  assumed  towards  the  Pharisees  and  towards 
Jesus  was  sufficiently  obvious.  He  had  disowned 
the  Pharisees ;  he  had  acknowledged  Jesus.  It  was 
plain  therefore  that  Jesus  was  the  Shepherd,  and  it 
was  also  plain  that  the  Pharisees  were  not  among 
Christ's  sheep  ;  they  might  be  in  the  fold,  but  as  they 
did  not  recognise  and  follow  Christ  they  showed  that 
they  did  not  belong  to  His  flock.  And  Christ  trusts 
still  to  His  own  attractiveness  and  fitness  to  our  needs. 
It  is  very  remarkable  how  insufficient  an  account  of 
their  own  conversion  highly  educated  persons  can 
give.  Professor  Clifford's  favourite  pupil  was,  like 
himself,  an  atheist ;  but  racked  by  distress  on  account 
of  Clifford's  death,  and  being  obliged  to  pass  through 
other  circumstances  fitted  to  disclose  the  weakness 
of  human  nature,  this  pupil  became  an  ardent  Chris- 
tian. One  reads  the  record  of  this  conversion  expect- 
ing to  find  the  reasoning  power  of  the  mathematician 
adding  something  to  the  demonstration  ot  God's 
personality,  or  building  a  sure  foundation  for  Christian 
faith.  There  is  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  experience 
of  life  gave  new  meaning  to  Christ's  offer  and  to  His 
revelation — that  was  all.     So  too  in  criticizing  Renan's 


M.  ».|&]  lESUS  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD.  331 

"  Life  of  Christ,"  a  French  critic  more  profound  than 
himself  says : — "  The  characteristic  thing  in  this 
analysis  of  Christianity  is  that  sin  does  not  appear  in 
it  at  all.  Now  if  there  is  anything  which  explains  the 
success  of  the  Good  News  among  men,  it  is  that  it 
offered  deliverance  from  sin — salvation.  It  certainly 
would  have  been  more  appropriate  to  explain  a  religion 
religiously,  and  not  to  evade  the  very  core  of  the 
subject  This  '  Christ  in  white  marble '  is  not  He  who 
made  the  strength  of  the  martyrs."  All  this  just 
means  that  if  men  have  no  sense  of  need  they  will 
not  own  Christ ;  and  that  if  Christ's  own  presence  and 
words  do  not  draw  them,  they  are  not  to  be  drawn. 
Of  course  much  may  be  done  in  the  way  of  presenting 
Christ  to  men,  but  beyond  the  simple  exhibition  of 
His  person  by  word  or  in  conduct  not  much  can 
be  done.  It  is  a  mystery,  often  oppressive,  that  men 
seem  quite  unattracted  and  unmoved  by  the  Figure 
that  so  transcends  all  others,  and  gives  a  heart  to  the 
world.     But  Christ  is  known  by  His  own. 

This  great  fact  of  the  mutual  recognition  of  Christ 
and  His  people  has  an  application  not  only  to  the 
first  acceptance  of  Christ  by  the  soul,  but  also  to 
the  Christian  experience  throughout.  A  mutual  re- 
cognition and  deep-lying  affinity  not  only  at  first  forms 
but  for  ever  renews  and  maintains  the  bond  between 
Christ  and  the  Christian.  He  knows  His  sheep  and 
is  known  by  them.  Often  they  do  not  know  them- 
selves ;  *  but  the  Shepherd  knows  them.  Many  of  us 
are  frequently  brought  into  doubt  ol  our  interest  in 
Christ,  but  the  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure, 
having  this  seal,  "The  Lord   knoweth  them  that  are 

*  St.  Augustine. 


332  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

His.**  We  go  astray,  and  get  so  torn  with  thorns, 
so  fouled  with  mire,  that  few  can  tell  to  what  fold  we 
belong — our  owner's  marks  are  obliterated  ;  but  the 
Good  Shepherd  in  telling  His  sheep  has  missed  us, 
and  come  after  us,  and  recognises  and  claims  us  even 
in  our  pitiable  state.  Who  could  tell  to  whom  we 
belong  when  we  lie  absolutely  content  with  the 
poisonous  pasture  of  this  world's  vanities  and  rank 
gaipr ;  when  the  soul  is  stained  with  impurity,  torn 
v-'.jri  passion,  and  has  every  mark  Chat  distinguishes 
Christ's  people  obscured  ?  Is  it  surprising  we  should 
begin  then  ourselves  to  doubt  whether  we  belong 
to  the  true  fold  or  whether  there  is  any  true  fold  ? 
Shameful  are  the  places  where  Christ  has  found  us, 
among  prayerless  days,  unrestrained  indulgences,  with 
hardened  heart  and  cynical  thoughts,  far  from  any 
purpose  of  good  ;  and  still  again  and  again  His  pre- 
sence has  met  us.  His  voice  recalled  us.  His  nearness 
awakened  once  more  in  us  the  consciousness  that  with 
Him  we  have  after  all  a  deeper  sympathy  than  with 
any  besides. 

The  whole  experience  of  Christ  as  our  Shepherd 
gives  Him  an  increasing  knowledge  of  us.  The 
shepherd  is  the  first  to  see  the  lamb  at  its  birth,  and 
not  one  day  goes  by  but  he  visits  it.  So  needful  and 
merciful  a  work  is  it  that  it  has  no  Sabbath,  but  as  on 
the  day  of  rest  the  shepherd  feeds  his  own  children 
so  he  cares  for  the  lambs  of  his  flock,  sees  that  no 
harm  is  befalling  them,  remembers  their  dependence 
on  him,  observes  their  growth,  removes  what  hinders 
it,  hangs  over  the  pale  of  the  fold,  watching  with  a 
pleased  and  fond  observance  their  ways,  their  beauty, 
their  comfort.  And  thus  he  becomes  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  his  sheep.     So  Christ  becomes  increas- 


X.  i-l8.]  JESUS  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD.  333 

ingly  acquainted  with  us.  We  have  thought  much  of 
Him ;  we  have  again  and  again  pondered  His  life, 
His  death,  His  words.  We  have  endeavoured  to 
understand  what  He  requires  of  us,  and  day  by  day 
He  has  somehow  been  in  our  thoughts.  Not  less  but 
far  more  constantly  have  we  been  in  His  thoughts, 
not  a  day  has  passed  without  His  recurrence  to  this 
subject.  He  has  looked  upon  and  considered  us,  has 
marked  the  working  of  our  minds,  the  forming  of  our 
purposes.  He  knows  our  habits  by  watching  against 
them  ;  our  propensities  by  turning  us  from  them.  We 
are  not  left  alone  with  our  awful  secret  of  sin  :  there 
is  another  who  comprehends  our  danger,  and  is  bent 
upon  securing  us  against  it 

S'owly  but  surely  does  Christ  thus  win  the  confidence 
of  the  soul ;  doing  for  it  a  thousand  kind  offices  that 
are  not  recognised,  patiently  waiting  for  the  recognition 
and  love  which  He  knows  must  at  last  be  given;  quietly 
making  Himself  indispensable  to  the  soul  ere  ever  it 
discerns  what  it  is  that  is  bringing  to  it  so  new  a 
buoyancy  and  hope.  Slowly  but  surely  grows  in  every! 
Christian  a  reciprocal  knowledge  of  Christ.  More  and 
more  clearly  does  His  Person  stand  out  as  the  one  on 
whom  our  expectation  must  rest.  With  Him  we  are 
brought  into  connection  by  every  sin  of  ours,  and  by 
every  hope.  Is  it  not  He  before  whom  and  about 
whom  our  hearts  thrill  and  tremble  time  after  time 
with  a  depth  and  av/e  of  emotion  which  nothing  else 
excites  ?  Is  it  not  to  Him  we  owe  it  that  this  day  we 
live  in  peace,  knowing  that  our  God  is  a  loving  Father? 
is  it  not  still  His  grace  we  must  learn  more  deeply. 
His  patient  righteous  way  we  must  more  exactly  fall 
in  with,  if  we  are  to  forget  our  loved  sin  in  the  love  of 
God,  ourselves  in  the  Eternal  One  ?     What  is  growth 


334  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

in  grace  but  the  laying  bare  of  the  sinner's  heart  to 
Christ,  fold  after  fold  being  removed,  till  the  very  core 
of  our  being  opens  to  Him  and  accepts  Him,  and  the 
reciprocal  laying  bare  of  the  heart  of  Christ  toward 
the  sinner? 

For  this  growth  in  mutual  understanding  must 
advance  till  that  perfect  sympathy  is  attained  which 
Christ  indicates  in  the  words :  "  I  know  My  sheep  and 
am  known  of  Mine,  as  the  Father  knoweth  Me  and  I 
know  the  Father."  The  mutual  understanding  between 
the  Eternal  Father  and  the  Son  is  the  only  parallel 
to  the  mutual  understanding  of  Christ  and  His  people. 
In  the  loving  union  of  husband  and  wife  we  see  how 
intimate  is  the  understanding,  how  the  one  is  dissatisfied 
if  any  anxiety  is  not  uttered  and  shared,  how  there 
can  be  no  secret  on  either  side.  We  see  how  a  slight 
movement,  a  look,  betrays  intention  more  than  many 
words  of  a  stranger  could  reveal  it ;  we  see  what 
confidence  in  one  another  is  established,  how  the  one 
is  not  satisfied  until  his  thought  is  ratified  by  the 
other,  his  opinion  reflected  and  better  judged  in  the 
other,  his  emotion  partaken  of  and  again  expressed  by 
the  other.  But  even  this,  though  suggestive,  is  but  a 
suggestion  of  the  mutual  intelligence  subsisting  between 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  the  absolute  confidence  in  one 
another,  the  perfect  harmony  in  purpose  and  feeling, 
the  delight  in  knowing  and  being  known.  Into  this 
perfect  harmony  of  feeling  and  of  purpose  with  the 
Supreme  does  Christ  introduce  His  people.  Gradually 
their  thoughts  are  disengaged  from  what  is  trivial,  and 
expand  to  take  in  the  designs  of  the  Eternal  Mind. 
Gradually  their  tastes  and  affections  are  loosened  from 
lower  attachments,  and  are  wrought  to  a  perfect  sym- 
pathy with  what  is  holy  and  abiding. 


XXII. 

JESUS,   SON  OF  GOD. 


335 


*  And  it  WIS  the  feast  of  the  dedication  at  Jerusalem  t  H  waa  winter } 
and  Jesus  was  walking  in  the  temple  in  Solomon's  porch.  The  Jews 
therefore  came  round  about  Him,  and  said  unto  Him,  How  long  dost 
Thou  hold  us  in  suspense  ?  If  Thou  art  the  Christ,  tell  as  plainly. 
Jesus  answered  them,  I  told  you,  and  ye  believe  not :  the  works  that 
I  do  in  My  Father's  name,  these  bear  witness  of  Me.  But  ye  believe 
not,  because  ye  are  not  of  My  sheep.  My  sheep  hear  My  voice,  and  I 
know  them,  and  they  follow  Me :  and  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life ; 
and  they  shall  never  perish,  and  no  one  shall  snatch  them  out  of  My 
hand.  My  Father,  which  hath  given  them  unto  Me,  is  greater  than 
all ;  and  no  one  is  able  to  snatch  them  out  of  the  Father's  hand.  I  and 
the  Father  are  one.  The  Jews  took  up  stones  again  to  stone  Him. 
Jesus  answered  them,  Many  good  works  have  I  showed  you  from  the 
Father  ;  for  which  of  those  works  do  ye  stone  Me  ?  The  Jews  answered 
Him,  For  a  good  work  we  stone  Thee  not,  but  for  blasphemy  ;  and 
because  that  Thou,  being  a  man,  makest  Thyself  God.  Jesus  answered 
them.  Is  it  not  written  in  your  law,  I  said.  Ye  are  gods  ?  If  He  called 
them  gods,  unto  whom  the  word  of  God  came  (and  the  Scripture  can- 
not be  broken),  say  ye  of  Him,  whom  the  Father  sanctified  and  sent 
into  the  world,  Thou  blasphemest ;  because  I  said,  I  am  the  Son  of 
God  ?  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  My  Father,  believe  Me  not.  But  if  I  do 
them,  though  ye  believe  not  Me,  beheve  the  works  :  that  ye  may  know 
and  understand  that  the  Father  is  in  Me,  and  I  in  the  Father.  They 
sought  again  to  take  Him  ;  and  He  went  forth  out  of  their  hand.  And 
He  went  away  again  beyond  Jordan  into  the  place  where  John  was  at 
the  first  baptizing ;  and  there  He  abode.  And  many  came  unto  Him  ; 
and  they  said,  John  indeed  did  no  sign  :  but  all  things  whatsoeve'  John 
spake  of  this  man  were  true.  And  many  believed  on  Him  tkwe." — 
John  z,  23-43. 


XXII. 

JESUS,  SON  OF  GODl 

AFTER  our  Lord's  visit  to  Jerusalem  at  the  Feast 
of  Tabernacles,  and  owing  to  His  collision  with 
the  authorities  in  regard  to  the  blind  man  whom  He 
healed,  He  seems  to  have  retired  from  the  metropolis 
for  some  weeks,  until  the  Feast  of  the  Dedication. 
This  Feast  had  been  instituted  by  the  Maccabees  to 
celebrate  the  Purification  of  the  Temple  after  its  pro- 
fanation by  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  It  began  about  the 
20th  December,  and  lasted  eight  days.  As  it  was 
winter,  possibly  raining,  and  certainly  cold,  Jesus  walked 
about  in  Solomon's  Porch,  where  at  all  events  He  was 
under  cover  and  had  some  shelter.  Here  the  Jews 
gradually  gathered,  until  at  length  He  found  Himself 
ringed  round  by  hostile  questioners,  who  bluntly, 
almost  threateningly  asked  Him,  "How  long  dost 
Thou  make  us  to  doubt  ?  If  Thou  be  the  Christ,  tell 
us  plainly,"  a  question  which  shows  that,  although  they 
inferred  from  the  assertions  He  had  made  regarding 
Himself  that  He  claimed  to  be  the  Messiah,  He  had  not 
directly  and  explicitly  proclaimed  Himself  in  terms  no 
one  could  misunderstand. 

At  first  sight  their  request  seems  fair  and  reasonable. 
In  fact  it  is  neither.  The  mere  affirmation  that  He 
was  the   Christ  would   not  have  helped   those  whom 

137  22 


33«  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

His  works  and  words  had  only  prejudiced  against  Him. 
As  He  at  once  explained  to  them,  He  had  made  the 
affirmation  in  the  only  way  possible,  and  their  unbelief 
arose  not  from  any  want  of  explicitness  on  His  part, 
but  because  they  were  not  of  His  sheep  (ver.  26). 
"  My  sheep  hear  My  voice,  and  I  know  them,  and  they 
follow  Me."  Here,  as  elsewhere.  He  points  in  con- 
firmation of  His  claim  to  the  works  His  Father  had 
given  Him  to  do,  and  to  the  response  His  manifesta- 
tion awakened  in  those  who  were  hungering  for  truth 
and  for  God.  Those  who  were  given  to  Him  by  the 
Father,  who  were  taught  and  led  by  God,  acknowledged 
Him,  and  to  such  He  imparted  all  those  eternal  and 
supreme  blessings  He  was  commissioned  to  bestow 
upon  men. 

But  in  describing  the  safety  of  those  who  believe  in 
Him,  Jesus  uses  an  expression  which  gives  umbrage 
to  those  who  hear  it — "  I  and  the  Father  are  one." 
Those  who  trust  themselves  to  Christ  shall  not  be 
plucked  out  of  His  hand  :  they  are  eternally  secure. 
The  guarantee  of  this  is,  that  those  who  thus  trust  in 
Him  are  given  to  Him  by  the  Father  for  this  very 
purpose  of  safe-keeping  :  the  Father  Himself  therefore 
watches  over  and  protects  them.  "  No  man  is  able  to 
pluck  them  out  of  My  Father's  hand.  I  and  My  Father 
are  one."  In  this  matter  Christ  acts  merely  as  the 
Father's  agent.  The  Pharisees  might  excommunicate 
the  blind  man  and  threaten  him  with  penalties  present 
and  to  come,  but  he  is  absolutely  beyond  their  reach. 
Their  threats  are  the  pattering  of  hail  on  a  bomb-proof 
shelter.  The  man  is  in  Christ's  keeping,  and  thereby  is 
in  God's  keeping. 

But  this  assertion  the  Jews  at  once  construed  into 
blasphemy,  and  took  up  stones  to  stone  Him.     With 


s.3»-43.]  fESUS,  SON  OF  GOD.  J39 

marvellous  calmness  Jesus  arrests  their  murderous  in- 
tention with  the  quiet  question :  "  Many  good  works 
have  I  showed  you  from  My  Father ;  for  which  of 
these  do  you  stone  Me  ?  You  question  whether  I  am 
the  Father's  Agent :  does  not  the  benignity  of  the 
works  I  have  done  prove  Me  such  ?  Do  not  My  works 
evince  the  indwelling  power  of  the  Father  ? "  The 
Jews  reply,  and  from  their  point  of  view  quite  reason- 
ably :  "  For  a  good  work  we  stone  Thee  not ;  but  be- 
cause Thou,  being  a  man,  makest  Thyself  God."  How 
far  they  were  justified  in  this  charge  we  must  inquire. 

In  this  conversation  two  points  are  of  the  utmost 
significance. 

I.  The  comparative  equanimity  with  which  they 
consider  the  claim  of  Jesus  to  be  the  Messiah  is 
changed  into  fury  when  they  imagine  that  He  claims 
also  equality  with  God.  Their  first  appeal,  "  If  Thou 
be  the  Christ,  tell  us  plainly,"  is  calm  ;  and  His  answer, 
though  it  distinctly  involved  an  affirmation  that  He 
was  the  Christ,  was  received  without  any  violent 
demonstration  of  rage  or  of  excitement.  But  their 
attitude  towards  Him  changes  in  a  moment,  and  their 
calmness  gives  place  to  uncontrollable  indignation  as 
soon  as  it  appears  that  He  believes  Himself  to  be 
one  with  the  Father.  They  themselves  would  not  have 
dreamed  of  putting  such  a  question  to  Him :  the  idea 
of  any  man  being  equal  with  God  was  too  abhorrent  to 
the  rigid  monotheism  of  the  Jewish  mind.  And  when 
it  dawned  upon  them  that  this  was  what  Jesus  claimed, 
they  could  do  nothing  but  stop  their  ears  and  lift  stones 
to  end  such  blasphemy.  No  incident  could  more  dis- 
tinctly prove  that  the  claim  to  be  the  Messiah  was  in 
their  judgment  one  thing,  the  claim  to  be  Divine 
another  thing. 


340  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

2.  The  contrast  our  Lord  draws  between  Himself 
and  those  who  had  in  Scripture  been  called  "gods"  is 
significant.  It  is  the  eighty-second  Psalm  He  cites; 
and  in  it  the  judges  of  Israel  are  reb-iked  for  abusing 
their  office.  It  is  of  these  unjust  judges  the  psalm 
represents  God  as  saying,  "  I  have  said,  Ye  are  gods, 
and  all  of  you  are  children  of  the  Most  High.  But  ye 
shall  die  like  men,  and  fall  like  one  of  the  princes." 
To  these  judges  this  word  of  God,  "  Ye  are  gods,"  had 
come  at  their  consecration  to  their  office.  Having  been 
occupied  with  other  work  they  were  now  set  apart  to 
represent  to  men  the  authority  and  justice  of  God. 
But,  argues  our  Lord,  if  men  were  called  gods,  to  whom 
God's  word  came, — and  they  are  so  called  in  Scripture, 
which  cannot  be  broken, — appointing  them  to  their 
office,  may  He  not  rightly  be  called  Son  of  God  who  is 
Himself  sent  to  men;  whose  original  and  sole  destiny 
it  was  to  come  into  the  world  to  represent  the  Father? 
The  words  are  overweighted  with  manifold  contrast. 
The  judges  were  persons  "  to  whom  "  the  word  of  God 
came,  as  from  without ;  Jesus  was  a  person  Himself 
"  sent  into  the  world  "  from  God,  therefore  surely  more 
akin  to  God  than  they  were.  The  judges  represented 
God  by  virtue  of  a  commission  received  in  the  course 
of  their  career — the  word  of  God  came  to  them :  Jesus, 
on  the  other  hand,  represented  God  because  "  sancti- 
fied," that  is,  set  apart  or  consecrated  for  this  purpose 
before  He  came  into  the  world,  and  therefore  obviously 
occupying  a  higher  and  more  important  position  than 
they.  But,  especially,  the  judges  were  appointed  to 
discharge  one  limited  and  temporary  function,  for  the 
discharge  of  which  it  was  sufficient  that  they  should 
know  the  law  of  God ;  whereas  it  was  "  the  Father,' 
the  God  of  universal  relation  and  love,  who  consecrated 


S.M-4S.]  JESUS,  SON  OF  GOD.  S4i 

Jesus  and  sent  Him  into  the  world,  meaning  now  to 
reveal  to  men  what  lies  deepest  in  His  nature,  His 
love,  His  fatherhood.  The  idea  of  the  purpose  for 
which  Christ  was  sent  into  the  world  is  indicated  in 
the  emphatic  use  of  "  the  Father."  He  was  sent  to  do 
the  works  of  the  Father  (ver.  37) ;  to  manifest  to  men 
the  benignity,  tenderness,  compassion  of  the  Father;  to 
encourage  them  to  believe  that  the  Father,  the  Source 
of  all  life,  was  in  their  midst  accessible  to  them.  If 
Jesus  failed  to  reveal  the  Father,  He  had  no  claim  to 
make.  "  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  My  Father,  believe 
Me  not."  But  if  He  did  such  works  as  declared  the 
Father  to  be  in  their  midst,  then,  as  bearing  the  Father 
in  Him  and  doing  the  Father's  will,  He  might  well  be 
called  "the  Son  of  God."  "Though  ye  believe  not 
Me,  believe  the  works ;  that  ye  may  know,  and  believe, 
that  the  Father  is  in  Me,  and  I  in  Him." 

There  can  be  no  question,  then,  of  the  conclusiveness 
with  which  our  Lord  rebutted  the  charge  of  blasphemy. 
By  a  single  sentence  He  put  them  in  the  position 
of  presumptuously  contradicting  their  own  Scriptures. 
But  weightier  questions  remain  behind.  Did  Jesus 
merely  seek  to  parry  their  thrust,  or  did  He  mean 
positively  to  affirm  that  He  was  God  ?  His  words 
do  not  carry  a  direct  and  explicit  affirmation  of  His 
Divinity.  Indeed,  to  a  hearer  His  comparison  of  Him- 
self with  the  judges  would  necessarily  rather  tend  to 
veil  the  full  meaning  of  His  previous  claims  to  pre- 
existence  and  superhuman  dignity.  On  reflection,  no 
doubt  the  hearers  might  see  that  a  claim  to  Divinity 
was  implied  in  His  words;  but  even  in  the  saying 
which  first  gave  them  offence,  "  I  and  the  Father  are 
one,"  it  is  rather  what  is  implied  than  what  is  expressed 
that  carries  with  it  such  a  claim.     For  Calvin  is  unques* 


34*  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

tionably  right  in  maintaining  that  these  words  were  not 
intended  to  affirm  identity  of  substance  with  the  Father.* 
An  ambassador  whose  actions  or  claims  were  contested 
might  very  naturally  say,  "I  and  my  Sovereign  are 
One  " ;  not  meaning  thereby  to  claim  royal  dignity,  but 
meaning  to  assert  that  what  he  did,  his  Sovereign  did  ; 
that  his  signature  carried  his  Sovereign's  guarantee, 
and  that  his  pledges  would  be  fulfilled  by  the  entire 
resources  of  his  Sovereign.  And  as  God's  delegate,  as 
the  great  Messianic  Viceroy  among  men,  it  was  no 
doubt  this  that  our  Lord  wished  in  the  first  place  to 
affirm,  that  He  was  the  representative  of  God,  doing 
His  will,  and  backed  by  all  His  authority.  "  See  the 
Father  in  Me,"  was  His  constant  demand.  All  His 
self-assertion  and  self-revelation  were  meant  to  reveal 
the  Father. 

But  although  He  does  not  directly  and  explicitly 
say,  "  I  am  God "  ;  although  He  does  not  even  use 
such  language  of  Himself  as  John  uses,  when  he  says, 
"  The  Word  was  God  "  ;  yet  is  not  His  Divine  nature 
a  reasonable  inference  from  such  affirmations  as  that 
which  we  are  here  considering  ?  Some  interpreters 
very  decidedly  maintain  that  when  Christ  says,  "  I  and 
the  Father  are  one,"  He  means  one  in  power.  They 
affirm  that  this  assertion  is  made  to  prove  that  none 
of  His  sheep  will  be  plucked  out  of  His  hand,  and 
that  this  is  secured  because  His  Father  is  "greater 
than  all,"  and  He  and  His  Father  are  one.  Accordingly 
they  hold  that  neither  the  old  orthodox  interpretation 

'  Calvin  sayi :  "  The  ancients  misinterpreted  this  passage  to  prove 
that  Christ  is  of  one  substance  with  the  Father.  For  Christ  is  not  here 
disputing  regarding  unity  of  substance,  but  regarding  the  harmony  o( 
will  (consensu)  which  he  has  with  the  Father,  maintaining  that  what> 
ever  He  does  will  be  confirmed  by  the  Father's  power." 


z.  32-42.]  JESUS,  SON  OF  GOD.  343 

nor  the  Arian  is  correct :  not  the  orthodox,  because 
not  unity  of  essence  but  unity  of  power  is  meant ; 
not  the  Arian,  because  something  more  is  meant  than 
moral  harmony.  This,  however,  is  difficult  to  maintain, 
and  it  is  safer  to  abide  by  Calvin's  interpretation,  and 
believe  that  what  Jesus  means  is  that  what  He  does 
will  be  confirmed  by  the  Father.  It  is  the  Father's 
power  He  introduces  as  the  final  guarantee,  not  His 
own  power. 

Still,  although  the  very  terms  He  here  uses  may 
not  even  by  implication  affirm  His  Divinity,  it  remains 
to  be  asked  whether  there  are  not  parts  of  Christ's 
work  as  God's  commissioner  on  earth  which  could  be 
accomplished  by  no  one  who  was  not  Himself  Divine. 
An  ambassador  may  recommend  his  offers  and  guarantees 
by  affirming  that  his  power  and  that  of  his  Sovereign 
are  one,  but  in  many  cases  he  must  have  actual  power 
on  the  spot.  If  a  commissioner  is  sent  to  reduce  a 
mutinous  army  or  a  large  warlike  tribe  in  rebellion, 
or  to  define  a  frontier  in  the  face  of  an  armed  claimant, 
he  must  in  such  cases  be  no  mere  lay-figure,  whose 
uniform  tells  what  country  he  belongs  to,  but  he  must 
be  a  man  of  audacity  and  resource,  able  to  act  for 
himself  without  telegraphing  for  orders,  and  he  must 
be  backed  by  sufficient  military  force  on  the  spot.  It 
comes  therefore  to  be  a  question  whether  the  work  on 
which  Christ  was  sent  was  a  work  which  could  be 
accomplished  by  a  man  however  fully  equipped?  Jesus 
though  nothing  more  than  human  might  have  said, 
if  commissioned  by  God  to  say  so,  "  The  promises  I 
make,  God  will  perform.  The  guarantees  I  give,  God 
will  respect."  But  is  it  possible  that  a  man,  however 
holy,  however  wise,  however  fully  possessed  by  the 
Holy   Spirit,   could    reveal    the   Father    to   men    and 


344  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


adequately  represent  God  ?  Could  He  influence,  guide, 
and  uplift  individuals  ?  Could  He  give  life  to  men, 
could  He  assume  the  function  of  judging,  could  He  bear 
the  responsibility  of  being  sole  mediator  between  God 
and  men  ?  Must  we  not  believe  that  for  the  work 
Christ  came  to  do  it  was  needful  that  He  should  be 
truly  Divine  ? 

While  therefore  it  is  quite  true  that  Christ  here 
rebuts  the  charge  of  blasphemy  in  His  usual  manner, 
not  by  directly  affirming  His  Divine  nature,  but  only 
by  declaring  that  His  office  as  God's  representative 
gave  Him  as  just  a  claim  to  the  Divine  name  as  the 
judges  had,  this  circumstance  cannot  lead  us  to  doubt 
the  Divine  nature  of  Christ,  or  prompt  us  to  suppose 
He  Himself  was  shy  in  affirming  it,  because  the 
question  is  at  once  suggested  whether  the  office  He 
assumed  is  not  one  which  only  a  Divine  Person  could 
undertake.  It  need  not  stumble  our  faith,  if  we  find 
that  not  only  in  this  passage  but  everywhere  Jesus 
refrains  from  explicitly  saying :  "  I  am  God."  Not 
even  among  His  Apostles,  who  were  so  much  in  need 
of  instruction,  does  He  definitely  announce  His  Divinity. 
This  is  consistent  with  His  entire  method  of  teaching. 
He  was  not  aggressive  nor  impatient.  He  sowed  the 
seed,  and  knew  that  in  time  the  blade  would  appear. 
He  trusted  more  to  the  faith  v/hich  slowly  grew  with 
the  growth  of  the  believer's  mind  than  to  the  immediate 
acceptance  of  verbal  assertions.  He  allowed  men 
gradually  to  find  their  own  way  to  the  right  conclusions, 
guiding  them,  furnishing  them  with  sufficient  evidence, 
but  always  allowing  the  evidence  to  do  its  work,  and 
not  breaking  in  upon  the  natural  process  by  His 
authoritative  utterances.  But  when,  as  in  Thomas's 
case,  it  did  dawn  on  the  mind  of  any  that  this  Person 


1.22-42.]  JESUS,  SON  OF  GOD.  345 

was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  He  accepted  the  tribute 
paid.  The  acceptance  of  such  a  tribute  proves  Him 
Divine.  No  good  man,  whatever  his  function  or  com- 
mission on  earth,  could  allow  another  to  address  him, 
as  Thomas  addressed  Jesus,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God." 

In  the  paragraph  we  are  considering  a  very  needful 
reminder  is  given  us  that  the  Jews  of  our  Lord's  time 
used  the  terms  "  God  "  and  "  Son  of  God  "  in  a  loose 
and  inexact  manner.  Where  the  sense  was  not  likely 
to  be  misunderstood,  they  did  not  scruple  to  apply 
these  terms  to  officials  and  dignitaries.  The  angels 
they  called  sons  of  God ;  their  own  judges  they  called 
by  the  same  name.  The  whole  people  considered 
collectively  was  called  "  God's  son."  And  in  the  2nd 
Psalm,  speaking  of  the  Messianic  King,  God  says, 
"Thou  art  My  Son  :  this  day  have  I  begotten  Thee." 
It  was  therefore  natural  that  the  Jews  should  think  of 
the  Messiah  not  as  properly  Divine,  but  merely  as  being 
of  such  surpassing  dignity  as  to  be  worthily  though 
loosely  called  "  Son  of  God."  No  doubt  there  are 
passages  in  the  Old  Testament  which  intimate  with 
sufficient  clearness  that  the  Messiah  would  be  truly 
Divine :  "  Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever ; " 
"  Unto  us  a  Child  is  born  .  .  .  and  His  name  shall 
be  called  the  Mighty  God ; "  "  Behold  the  days  come 
that  I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous  Branch, 
and  this  is  the  name  whereby  He  shall  be  called, 
Jehovah  our  Righteousness."  But  though  these 
passages  seem  decisive  to  us,  looking  on  the  fulfil- 
ment of  them  in  Christ,  we  must  consider  that  the 
Jewish  Bible  did  not  lie  on  every  table  for  consultation 
as  our  Bibles  do,  and  also  that  it  was  easy  for  the  Jews 
to  put  a  figurative  sense  on  all  such  passages. 

In  a  word,  it  was  a  Messiah  the  Jews  looked  for, 


346  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

not  the  Son  of  God.  They  looked  for  one  with  Divine 
powers,  the  delegate  of  God,  sent  to  accomplish  His 
will  and  to  establish  His  kingdom,  the  representative 
among  them  of  the  Divine  presence  ;  but  they  did  not 
look  for  a  real  dwelling  of  a  Divine  Person  among  them. 
It  is  quite  certain  that  the  Jews  of  the  second  century 
thought  it  silly  of  the  Christians  to  hold  that  the  Christ 
pre-existed  from  eternity  as  God,  and  condescended  to 
be  born  as  man.  "  No  Jew  would  allow,"  says  a  writer 
of  that  time,  "  that  any  prophet  ever  said  that  a  Son 
of  God  would  come  ;  but  what  the  Jews  do  say  is  that 
the  Christ  of  God  will  come." 

This  circumstance,  that  the  Jews  did  not  expect  the 
Messiah  to  be  a  Divine  Person,  throws  light  upon 
certain  passages  in  the  Gospels.  When,  for  example, 
our  Lord  put  the  question,  "  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ? 
Whose  Son  is  He  ?  "  The  Pharisees  promptly  answer, 
"He  is  the  Son  of  David."  And,  that  they  had  no 
thought  of  ascribing  to  the  Messiah  a  properly  Divine 
origin,  is  shovvn  by  their  inability  to  answer  the  further 
question,  "  How  then  does  David  call  Him  Lord  ?  " — 
a  question  presenting  no  difficulty  at  all  to  any  one 
who  believed  that  the  Messiah  was  to  be  Divine  as  well 
as  human.* 

So,  too,  it  the  Jews  had  expected  the  Messiah  to 
be  a  Divine  person,  the  ascription  of  Messianic  dignity 
to  one  who  was  not  the  Messiah  was  blasphemy,  being 

'  In  this  passage  I  borrow  the  convincing  argument  of  Treffry  in  his 
oo  little  read  treatise  On  the  Eternal  Sonship,  He  says,  p.  89  :  "  Had 
the  Jews  regarded  the  Messiah  as  a  Divine  person,  the  claims  of  Jesus 
to  that  character  had  been  in  all  cases  equivalent  to  the  assertion  of  His 
Deity.  But  there  is  not  upon  record  one  example  in  which  any  con- 
siderable emotion  was  manifested  against  these  claims  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  palpable  allusion  to  His  higher  nature  never  failed  to  ba 
instantly  and  most  indignantly  resented.     The  conclusion  if,  obvious." 


X.  21-42.1  JESUS,  SON  OF  GOD,  347 

equivalent  to  ascribing  Divinity  to  one  who  was  not 
Divine.  But  in  no  case  in  which  Jesus  was  acknow- 
ledged as  the  Messiah  were  those  who  so  acknowledged 
Him  proceeded  against  as  blasphemous.  The  blind 
men  who  appealed  to  Him  as  the  Son  of  David  were 
told  to  be  quiet ;  the  crowd  who  hailed  His  entrance  to 
Jerusalem  scandalized  the  Pharisees  but  were  not  pro- 
ceeded against.  And  even  the  blind  beggar  who  owned 
Him  was  excommunicated  by  a  special  act  passed  for 
the  emergency,  which  proves  that  the  standing  statute 
against  blasphemy  could  not  in  such  a  case  be  enforced. 
Again,  this  fact,  that  the  Jews  did  not  expect  the 
Messiah  to  be  strictly  Divine,  sheds  light  on  the  real 
ground  of  accusation  against  Jesus.  So  long  as  it 
was  supposed  that  He  merely  claimed  to  be  the  pro- 
mised Christ,  and  used  the  title  "  Son  of  God "  as 
equivalent  to  a  Messianic  title,  many  of  the  people 
admitted  His  claim  and  were  prepared  to  own  Him. 
But  when  the  Pharisees  began  to  apprehend  that  He 
claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God  in  a  higher  sense, 
they  accused  Him  of  blasphemy,  and  on  this  charge 
He  was  condemned.  The  account  of  His  trial  as 
given  by  Luke  is  most  significant.  He  was  tried  in 
two  courts,  and  in  each  upon  two  charges.  When 
brought  before  the  Sanhedrim  He  was  first  asked, 
"  Art  Thou  the  Christ  ?  "  a  question  which,  as  He  at 
once  pointed  out,  was  useless ;  because  He  had  taught 
quite  openly,  and  there  were  hundreds  who  could 
testify  to  the  claims  He  had  put  forward.  He  merely 
says  that  they  themselves  will  one  day  own  His  claim. 
"  Hereafter  shall  the  Son  of  Man  sit  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  power  of  God."  This  suggests  to  them 
that  His  claim  was  to  something  more  than  they 
ordinarily  considered   to   be  involved  in  the  claim  to 


348  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

Messiahship,  and  at  once  they  pass  to  their  second 
question,  "  Art  Thou  then  the  Son  of  God  ?  "  And  on 
His  refusing  to  disown  this  title,  the  High  Priest 
rends  His  clothes,  and  Jesus  is  there  and  then 
convicted  of  blasphemy. 

The  different  significance  of  the  two  claims  is  brought 
out  more  distinctly  in  the  trial  before  Pilate.  At  first 
Pilate  treats  Him  as  an  amiable  enthusiast  who  fancies 
Himself  a  King  and  supposes  He  has  been  sent  into 
the  world  to  lead  men  to  the  truth.  And  accordingly 
after  examining  Him  he  presents  Him  to  the  people 
as  an  innocent  person,  and  makes  light  of  their  charge 
that  He  claims  to  be  King  of  the  Jews.  On  this  the 
Jews  with  one  voice  cry  out,  "  We  have  a  law,  and 
by  our  law  He  ought  to  die,  because  He  made  Himself 
the  Son  of  God."  The  effect  of  this  charge  upon 
Pilate  is  immediate  and  remarkable :  "  When  Pilate 
heard  that  saying  he  was  the  more  afraid,  and  went 
again  into  the  judgment  hall,  and  saith  unto  Jesus, 
Whence  art  Thou  ?  "     But  Jesus  gave  him  no  answer. 

It  is  plain  then  that  it  was  for  blasphemy  Christ 
was  condemned ;  and  not  simply  because  He  claimed 
to  be  the  Messiah.  But  if  this  is  so,  then  how  can 
we  evade  the  conclusion  that  He  was  in  very  truth 
a  Divine  person  ?  The  Jews  charged  Him  with 
making  Himself  equal  with  God  ;  and,  if  He  was  not 
equal  with  God,  they  were  quite  right  in  putting  Him 
to  death.  Their  law  was  express,  that  no  matter 
what  signs  and  wonders  a  man  performed,  if  he  used 
these  to  draw  them  from  the  worship  of  the  true  God 
he  was  to  be  put  to  death.  They  crucified  Jesus  on 
the  ground  that  He  was  a  blasphemer,  and  against 
this  sentence  He  made  no  appeal.  He  showed  no 
horror  at  the  accusation,  as  any  good  man  must  have 


s.aM&]  JESUS,  SON  OF  OOB.  S4» 

shown.  He  accepted  the  doom,  and  on  the  Cross 
prayed,  "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do."  That  which  they  considered  an  act 
of  piety  was  in  truth  the  most  frightful  of  crimes. 
But  if  He  was  not  Divine,  it  was  no  crime  at  all,  but 
a  just  punishment. 

But  no  doubt  that  which  lodges  in  the  heart  of  each 
of  us  the  conviction  that  Christ  is  Divine  is  the  general 
aspect  of  His  life,  and  the  attitude  He  assumes  towards 
men  and  towards  God.  We  may  not  be  able  to  under- 
stand in  what  sense  there  are  Three  Persons  in  the 
Godhead,  and  may  be  disposed  with  Calvin  to  wish 
that  theological  terms  and  distinctions  had  never  become 
necessary.*  We  may  be  unable  to  understand  how  if 
Christ  were  a  complete  Person  before  the  Incarnation, 
the  humanity  He  assumed  could  also  be  complete  and 
similar  to  our  own.  But  notwithstanding  such  diffi- 
culties, which  are  the  necessary  result  of  our  inability 
to  comprehend  the  Divine  nature,  we  are  convinced, 
when  we  follow  Christ  through  His  Hfe  and  listen  to 
His  own  assertions,  that  there  is  in  Him  something 
unique  and  unapproached  among  men,  that  while  He 
is  one  of  us  He  yet  looks  at  us  also  from  the  outside, 
from  above.  We  feel  that  He  is  Master  of  all,  that 
nothing  in  nature  or  in  life  can  defeat  Him ;  that  while 
dwelling  in  time.  He  is  also  in  Eternity,  seeing  before 
and  after.  The  most  stupendous  claims  He  makes 
seem  somehow  justified ;  assertions  which  in  other 
lips  would  be  blasphemous  are  felt  to  be  just  and 
natural  in  His.  It  is  felt  that  somehow,  even  if  we 
cannot  say  how,  God  is  in  Him. 

*  "  Utinam  quidem  scpulta  escent"  (Iiutit.f  I,,  1%  5). 


XXTTT. 

lESUS   THE  RESURRECTION  AND  UFS, 


3St 


"  Now  a  certain  man  was  sick,  Lazarus  of  Bethany,  of  the  village  of 
Mary  and  her  sister  Martha.  And  it  was  that  Mary  which  anointed  the 
Lord  with  ointment,  and  wiped  His  feet  with  her  hair,  whose  brother 
Lazarus  was  sick.  The  sisters  therefore  sent  unto  Him,  saying,  Lord, 
behold,  he  whom  Thou  lovest  is  sick.  But  when  Jesus  heard  it.  He  said. 
This  sickness  is  not  unto  death,  but  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son 
of  God  may  be  glorified  thereby.  Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her 
sister,  and  Lazarus.  When  therefore  He  heard  that  he  was  sick,  He 
abode  at  that  time  two  days  in  the  place  where  He  was.  Then  after 
this  He  saith  to  the  disciples,  Let  us  go  into  Judaea  again.  The  disciples 
say  unto  Him,  Rabbi,  the  Jews  were  but  now  seeking  to  stone  Thee  ; 
and  goest  Thou  thither  again  ?  Jesus  answered,  Are  there  not  twelve 
hours  in  the  day  ?  If  a  man  walk  in  the  day,  he  stumbleth  not,  because 
he  seeth  the  light  of  this  world.  But  if  a  man  walk  in  the  night,  he 
stumbleth,  because  the  light  is  not  in  him.  These  things  spake  He  : 
and  after  this  He  saith  unto  them.  Our  friend  Lazarus  is  fallen  asleep  ; 
but  I  go,  that  1  may  awake  him  out  of  sleep.  The  disciples  therefore 
said  unto  Him,  Lord,  if  he  is  fallen  asleep,  he  will  recover.  Now  Jesus 
had  spoken  of  his  death  :  but  they  thought  that  He  spake  of  taking  rest 
in  sleep.  Then  Jesus  therefore  said  unto  them  plainly,  Lazarus  is  dead. 
And  I  am  glad  for  your  sakes  that  I  was  not  there,  to  the  intent  ye 
may  believe  ;  nevertheless  let  us  go  unto  him.  Thomas,  therefore,  who 
is  called  Didymus,  said  unto  his  fellow-disciples,  Let  us  also  go,  that 
we  may  die  with  Him.  So  when  Jesus  came,  He  found  that  he  had  been 
in  the  tomb  four  days  already.  Now  Bethany  was  nigh  unto  Jerusalem, 
about  fifteen  furlongs  off" ;  and  many  of  the  Jews  had  come  to  Martha 
and  Mary,  to  console  them  concerning  their  brother.  Martha,  there- 
fore, when  she  heard  that  Jesus  was  coming,  went  and  met  Him  ;  but 
Mary  still  sat  in  the  house.  Martha,  therefore,  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord, 
if  Thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died.  And  even  now  I 
know  that,  whatsoever  Thou  shalt  ask  of  God,  God  will  give  Thee. 
Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again.  Martha  saith  unto 
Him,  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day. 
Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  Resurrection,  and  the  Life :  he  that  be- 
lieveth  on  Me,  though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live  :  and  whosoever  liveth 
and  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die.  Eelievest  thou  this?  She  saith 
unto  Him,  Yea,  Lord  :  I  Lave  believed  that  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  even  He  that  cometh  into  the  world.     And  when  she  had 

353  23 


aaid  this,  she  went  away,  and  called  Mary  her  sister  secretly,  saying, 

The  Master  is  here,  and  calleth  thee.  And  she,  when  she  heard  it, 
arose  quickly,  and  went  unto  Him.  (Now  Jesus  was  not  yet  come  into 
the  village,  but  was  still  in  the  place  where  Martha  met  Him.)  The 
Jews  then  which  were  with  her  in  the  house,  and  were  comforting  her, 
when  they  saw  Mary,  that  she  rose  up  quickly  and  went  out,  followed 
her,  supposing  that  she  was  going  unto  the  tomb  to  weep  there.  Mary 
therefore,  when  she  came  where  Jesus  was,  and  saw  Him,  fell  down  at 
His  feet,  sa3mig  unto  Him,  Lord,  if  Thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother 
had  not  died.  When  Jesus  therefore  saw  her  weeping,  and  the  Jews 
also  weeping  which  came  with  her,  He  groaned  in  the  spirit,  and  was 
troubled,  and  said,  Where  have  ye  laid  him  ?  They  say  unto  Him, 
Lord,  come  and  see.  Jesus  wept.  The  Jews  therefore  said.  Behold 
how  He  loved  him  !  But  some  of  them  said,  Could  not  this  man,  which 
opened  the  eyes  of  him  that  was  blind,  have  caused  that  this  man  also 
should  not  die  ?  Jesus  therefore  again  groaning  in  Himself  cometh  to 
the  tomb.  Now  it  was  a  cave,  and  a  stone  lay  against  it.  Jesus  saith. 
Take  ye  away  the  stone.  Martha,  the  sister  of  him  that  was  dead, 
saith  unto  Him,  Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh  :  for  he  hath  been  dead 
four  days.  Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou 
believedst,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ?  So  they  took  away 
the  stone.  And  Jesus  lifted  up  His  eyes,  and  said,  Father,  I  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  heardest  Me.  And  I  know  that  Thou  hearest  Me 
always  :  but  because  of  the  multitude  which  standeth  around  I  said  it, 
that  they  may  believe  that  Thou  didst  send  Me.  And  when  He  had 
thus  spoken,  He  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus,  come  forth.  He  that 
was  dead  came  forth,  bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave-clothes  ;  and  his 
face  was  bound  about  with  a  napkin.  Tesus  saith  unto  them,  Loose 
him,  and  let  him  go." — John  xi.  1-44. 


SS4 


XXIII. 

JESUS  THE  RESURRECTION  AND  UFR. 

IN  this  eleventh  chapter  it  is  related  how  the  death 
of  Jesus  was  finally  determined  upon,  on  the 
occasion  of  His  raising  Lazarus.  The  ten  chapters 
which  precede  have  served  to  indicate  how  Jesus  re- 
vealed Himself  to  the  Jews  in  every  aspect  that  was 
likely  to  win  faith,  and  how  each  fresh  revelation  only 
served  to  embitter  them  against  Him,  and  harden  their 
unbelief  into  hopeless  hostility.  In  these  few  pages 
John  has  given  us  a  wonderfully  compressed  but  vivid 
summary  of  the  miracles  and  conversations  of  Jesus, 
which  served  to  reveal  His  true  character  and  work. 
Jesus  has  manifested  Himself  as  the  Light  of  the  World, 
yet  the  darkness  does  not  comprehend  Him ;  as  the 
Shepherd  of  the  Sheep,  and  they  will  not  hear  His 
voice  ;  as  the  Life  of  men,  and  they  will  not  come  unto 
Him  that  they  might  have  Life ;  as  the  impersonated 
love  of  God  come  to  dwell  among  men,  sharing  their 
sorrows  and  their  joys,  and  men  hate  Him  the  more, 
the  more  love  He  shows  ;  as  the  Truth  which  could 
make  men  free,  and  they  choose  to  serve  the  father  of 
lies,  and  to  do  his  work.  And  now,  when  He  reveals 
Himself  as  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  possessed  of 
the  key  to  what  is  inaccessible  to  all  others,  of  the 
power  most  essential  to  man,  they  resolve  upon  Hi» 

355 


356  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

death.  There  was  an  appropriateness  in  this.  His 
love  for  His  friends  drew  Him  back  at  the  risk  of  His 
life  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem :  it  is  as  if  to 
His  eye  Lazarus  represented  all  His  friends,  and  He 
feels  constrained  to  come  out  from  His  safe  retreat, 
and,  at  the  risk  of  His  own  life,  deliver  them  from 
the  power  of  death. 

That  this  was  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  Himself  is 
obvious.  When  He  expresses  His  resolve  to  go  to 
His  friends  in  Bethany,  He  uses  an  expression  which 
shows  that  He  anticipated  danger,  and  which  at  once 
suggested  to  the  disciples  that  He  was  running  a  great 
risk.  "  Let  us  go,"  not  "  to  Bethany,"  but  "  into  Judaea 
again."  His  disciples  say  unto  Him,  "  Master,  the  Jews 
of  late  sought  to  stone  Thee,  and  goest  Thou  thither 
again  ? "  The  answer  of  Jesus  is  significant :  "  Are 
there  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day  ?  "  That  is  to  say  : 
Has  not  every  man  his  allotted  time  to  work,  his  day 
of  light,  in  which  he  can  walk  and  work,  and  which 
no  danger  nor  calamity  can  shorten  ?  Can  men  make 
the  sun  set  one  hour  earlier?  So  neither  can  they 
shorten  by  one  hour  the  day  of  life,  of  light,  and 
toil  your  God  has  appointed  to  you.  Wicked  men 
may  grudge  that  God's  sun  shine  on  the  fields  of  their 
enemies  and  prosper  them,  but  their  envy  cannot 
darken  or  shorten  the  course  of  the  sun  :  so  may  wicked 
men  grudge  that  I  work  these  miracles,  and  do  these 
deeds  of  My  loving  Father,  but  I  am  as  far  above  their 
reach  as  the  sun  in  the  heavens ;  until  I  have  run  My 
appointed  course  their  envy  is  impotent.  The  real 
danger  begins  when  a  man  tries  to  prolong  his  day, 
to  turn  night  into  day ;  the  danger  begins  when  a  man 
through  fear  turns  aside  from  duty ;  he  then  loses  the 
only  true  guide  and  light  of  his  life.     A  man's  know- 


XL  1-44.]   JESUS   THE  RESURRECTION  AND  UFE.        357 

ledge  of  duty,  or  God's  will,  is  the  only  true  light  he 
has  to  guide  him  in  life:  that  duty  God  has  already 
measured,  to  each  man  his  twelve  hours  ;  and  only  by 
following  duty  into  all  hazards  and  confusion  can  you 
live  out  your  full  term ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  you  try 
to  extend  your  term,  you  find  that  the  sun  of  duty  has 
set  for  you,  and  you  have  no  power  to  bring  light  on 
your  path.  A  man  may  preserve  his  life  on  earth  for 
a  year  or  two  more  by  declining  dangerous  duty,  but 
his  day  is  done,  he  is  henceforth  only  stumbling  about 
on  earth  in  the  outer  cold  and  darkness,  and  had  far 
better  have  gone  home  to  God  and  been  quietly  asleep, 
far  better  have  acknowledged  that  his  day  was  done 
and  his  night  come,  and  not  have  striven  to  wake  and 
work  on.  If  through  fear  of  danger,  of  straitened  cir- 
cumstances, of  serious  inconvenience,  you  refuse  to  go 
where  C.  d — i.e.,  where  duty — calls  you,  you  make  a 
terrible  mistake ;  instead  of  thereby  preserving  your 
life  you  lose  it,  instead  of  prolonging  your  day  of  useful- 
ness and  of  brightness  and  comfort,  you  lose  the  very 
light  of  life,  and  stumble  on  henceforward  through  life 
without  a  guide,  making  innumerable  false  steps  as 
the  result  of  that  first  false  step  in  which  you  turned 
in  the  wrong  direction ;  not  dead  indeed,  but  living  as 
"the  very  ghost  of  your  former  self"  on  this  side  the 
grave — miserable,  profitless,  benighted. 

John  apparently  bad  two  reasons  for  recording  this 
miracle ;  firstly,  because  it  exhibited  Jesus  as  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life ;  secondly,  because  it  more 
distinctly  separated  the  whole  body  of  the  Jews  into 
believers  and  unbelievers.  But  there  are  two  minor 
points  which  may  be  looked  at  before  we  turn  to  these 
main  themes. 

First,  we  read  that  when  Jesus  saw  Mary  weeping, 


358  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

and  the  Jews  also  weeping  which  came  with  her,  He 
groaned  in  spirit  and  was  troubled,  and  then  wept. 
But  why  did  He  show  such  emotion  ?  The  Jews  who 
saw  Him  weep  supposed  that  His  tears  were  prompted, 
as  their  own  were,  by  sorrow  for  their  loss  and  sym- 
pathy with  the  sisters.  To  see  a  woman  Hke  Mary 
casting  herself  at  His  feet,  breaking  into  a  passion  of 
tears,  and  crying  with  intense  regret,  if  not  with  a  tinge 
of  reproach,  "  Lord,  if  Thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother 
had  not  died,"  was  enough  to  bring  tears  to  the  eyes 
of  harder  natures  than  our  Lord's.  But  the  care  with 
which  John  describes  the  disturbance  of  His  spirit,  the 
emphasis  he  lays  upon  His  groaning,  the  notice  he 
takes  of  the  account  the  Jews  give  of  His  tears, — all 
seem  to  indicate  that  something  more  than  ordinary 
grief  or  sympathy  was  the  fountain  of  these  tears,  the 
cause  of  the  distress  which  could  vent  itself  only  in 
audible  groans.  He  was  in  sympathy  with  the  mourners 
and  felt  for  them,  but  there  was  that  in  the  whole  scene 
with  which  He  had  no  sympathy ;  there  was  none  of 
that  feeling  He  required  His  disciples  to  show  at  His 
own  death,  no  rejoicing  that  one  more  had  gone  to  the 
Father.  There  was  a  forgetfulness  of  the  most  essen- 
tial facts  of  death,  an  unbelief  which  seemed  entirely  to 
separate  this  crowd  of  wailing  people  from  the  light 
and  life  of  God's  presence.  "It  was  the  darkness 
between  God  and  His  creatures  that  gave  room  for,  and 
was  filled  with,  their  weeping  and  wailing  over  their 
dead."  It  was  the  deeper  anguish  into  which  mourners 
are  plunged  by  looking  upon  death  as  extinction,  and 
by  supposing  that  death  separates  from  God  and  from 
life,  instead  of  giving  closer  access  to  God  and  more 
abundant  life, — it  was  this  which  caused  Jesus  to  groan. 
He  could  not  bear  this  evidence  that  even  the  best  ol 


xi.  1-44.]   JESUS  THE  RESURRECTION  AND  UFE.        359 

God's  children  do  not  believe  in  God  as  greater  than 
death,  and  in  death  as  ruled  by  God. 

This  gives  us  the  key  to  Christ's  belief  in  immor- 
tality, and  to  all  sound  belief  in  immortality.  It  was 
Christ's  sense  of  God,  His  uninterrupted  consciousness 
of  God,  His  distinct  knowledge  that  God  the  loving 
Father  is  the  existence  in  whom  all  live, — it  was  this 
which  made  it  impossible  for  Christ  to  think  of  death 
as  extinction  or  separation  from  God.  For  one  who 
consciously  lived  in  God  to  be  separated  from  God  was 
impossible.  For  one  who  was  bound  to  God  by  love, 
to  drop  out  of  that  love  into  nothingness  or  desolation 
was  inconceivable.  His  constant  and  absolute  sense  of 
God  gave  Him  an  unquestioning  sense  of  immortality. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  Christ  having  any  shadow  of 
doubt  of  a  life  beyond  death  ;  and  if  we  ask  why  it  was 
so,  we  further  see  it  was  because  it  was  impossible  for 
Him  to  doubt  of  the  existence  of  God — the  everlivnng, 
everloving  God. 

And  this  is  the  order  oi  conviction  in  us  all.  It  is 
vain  to  try  and  build  up  a  faith  in  immortality  by 
natural  arguments,  or  even  by  what  Scripture  records. 
As  Bushnell  truly  says :  "  The  faith  of  immortality 
depends  on  a  sense  oi  it  begotten,  not  on  an  argument 
for  it  concluded."  And  this  sense  of  immortality  is 
begotten  when  a  man  is  truly  born  again,  and  instinc- 
tively feels  himself  an  heir  of  things  beyond  this  world 
into  which  his  natural  birth  has  ushered  him ;  when 
he  begins  to  live  in  God  ;  when  the  things  of  God  are 
the  things  among  which  and  for  which  he  lives ;  when 
his  spirit  is  in  daily  and  free  communication  with  God  ; 
when  he  partakes  of  the  Divine  nature,  finding  his  joy 
in  self-sacrifice  and  love,  in  those  purposes  and  disposi- 
tions which  can  be  exercised  in  any  world  where  men 


3te  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

are,  and  with  which  death  seems  to  have  no  conceivable 
relation.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  for  a  man  to  live  for 
the  world,  to  steep  his  soul  in  carnal  pleasures  and 
blind  himself  by  highly  esteeming  what  belongs  only  to 
earth, — for  such  a  man  to  expect  to  have  any  intelligent 
sense  or  perception  of  immortality  is  out  of  the  question. 
2.  Another  question,  which  may,  indeed,  be  in- 
quisitive, but  can  scarcely  be  reprehended,  is  sure  to 
be  asked  :  What  was  the  experience  of  Lazarus  during 
these  four  days  ?  To  speculate  on  what  he  saw  or 
heard  or  experienced,  to  trace  the  flight  of  his  soul 
through  the  gates  of  death  to  the  presence  of  God, 
may  perhaps  seem  to  some  as  foolish  as  to  go  with 
those  curious  Jews  who  flocked  out  to  Bethany  to  set 
eyes  on  this  marvel,  a  man  who  had  passed  to  the 
unseen  world  and  yet  returned.  But  although  no 
doubt  good  and  great  purposes  are  served  by  the 
obscurity  that  involves  death,  our  endeavour  to  pene- 
trate the  gloom,  and  catch  some  glimpses  of  a  life  we 
must  shortly  enter,  cannot  be  judged  altogether  idle. 
Unfortunately,  it  is  little  we  can  learn  from  Lazarus. 
Two  English  poets,  the  one  fitted  to  deal  with  this 
subject  by  an  imagination  that  seems  capable  of  see- 
ing and  describing  whatever  man  can  experience,  the 
other  by  an  insight  that  instinctively  apprehends 
spiritual  things,  and  both  by  reverential  faith,  have 
taken  quite  opposite  views  of  the  effect  of  death  and 
resurrection  upon  Lazarus.  The  one  describes  him 
as  living  henceforth  a  dazed  life,  as  if  his  soul  were 
elsewhere ;  as  if  his  eye,  dazzled  with  the  glory  beyond, 
could  not  adjust  itself  to  the  things  of  earth.  He  is 
thrown  out  of  sympathy  with  the  ordinary  interests 
of  men,  and  seems  to  live  at  cross  purposes  with  all 
around  him.    This  was  a  very  inviting  view  of  the  matter 


xi.  1-44.]  JESUS  THE  RESURRECTION'  AND  LIFE.     361 

to  a  poet;  for  here  was  an  opportunity  of  putting  in 
a  concrete  way  an  experience  quite  unique.  It  was 
a  task  worthy  of  the  highest  poetic  genius  to  describe 
what  would  be  the  sensations,  thoughts,  and  ways 
of  a  man  who  had  passed  through  death  and  seen 
things  invisible,  and  been  "exalted  above  measure," 
and  become  certified  by  face  to  face  vision  of  all  that 
we  can  only  hope  and  believe,  and  had  yet  been 
restored  to  earth.  The  opportunity  of  contrasting  the 
paltriness  of  earth  with  the  sublimity  and  reality  of 
the  unseen  was  too  great  to  be  resisted.  The  oppor- 
tunity of  flouting  our  professed  faith  by  exhibiting  the 
difference  between  it  and  a  real  assurance,  by  showing 
the  utter  want  of  sympathy  between  one  who  had  seen 
and  all  others  on  earth  who  had  only  believed, — this 
opportunity  was  too  inviting  to  leave  room  for  a  poet 
to  ask  whether  there  was  a  basis  in  fact  for  this 
contrast ;  whether  it  was  likely  that  in  point  of  fact 
Lazarus  did  conduct  himself,  when  restored  to  earth, 
as  one  who  had  been  plunged  into  the  full  light  and 
thronging  life  of  the  unseen  world.  And,  when  we 
consider  the  actual  requirements  of  the  case,  it  seems 
most  unlikely  that  Lazarus  can  have  been  recalled 
from  a  clear  consciousness  and  full  knowledge  of  the 
heavenly  life — unlikely  that  he  should  be  summoned 
to  live  on  earth  with  a  mind  too  large  for  the  uses 
of  earth,  overcharged  with  knowledge  he  could  not 
use,  as  a  poor  man  suddenly  enriched  beyond  his 
ability  to  spend,  and  thereby  only  confused  and 
stupefied.  Apparently  the  idea  of  the  other  poet  is 
the  wiser  when  he  says  : — 

**  •  Where  wert  thou,  brother,  those  four  days  ? ' 

There  lives  no  record  of  reply, 

Which,  telling  vvhai  it  is  to  die. 
Had  surely  added  praise  to  praise. 


36i  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

** '  From  every  house  the  neighbours  met, 

The  streets  were  fill'd  with  joyful  souiu^ 
A  solemn  gladness  even  crowa'd 
The  purple  brows  of  Olivet. 

•• '  Behold  a  man  raised  up  by  Christ  I 
The  rest  remaineth  unrevealed  ; 
He  told  it  not ;  or  something  seal'd 
The  lips  of  that  Evangelist." 

The  probability  is,  he  had  nothing  to  reveal.  As 
Jesus  said,  He  came  "  to  awake  him  out  of  sleep." 
Had  he  learned  anything  of  the  spirit  world,  it  must 
have  oozed  out.  The  burden  of  a  secret  which  all 
men  craved  to  know,  and  which  the  scribes  and 
lawyers  from  Jerusalem  would  do  all  in  their  power 
to  elicit  from  him,  would  have  damaged  his  mind  and 
oppressed  his  life.  His  rising  would  be  as  the 
awaking  of  a  man  from  deep  sleep,  scarcely  know- 
ing what  he  was  doing,  tripping  and  stumbling  in  the 
grave-clothes  and  wondering  at  the  crowd.  What 
Mary  and  Martha  would  prize  would  be  the  unchanged 
love  that  shone  in  his  face  as  he  recognized  them, 
the  same  familiar  tones  and  endearments, — all  that 
showed  how  little  change  death  brings,  how  little 
rupture  of  affection  or  of  any  good  thing,  how  truly  he 
was  their  own  brother  still. 

To  our  Lord  Himself  it  was  a  grace  that  so  shortly 
before  His  own  death,  and  in  a  spot  so  near  where  He 
Himself  was  buried,  He  should  be  encouraged  by  see- 
ing a  man  who  had  been  three  days  in  the  grave  rise 
at  His  word.  The  narrative  of  His  last  hours  reveals 
that  such  encouragement  was  not  useless.  But  for  us 
it  has  a  still  more  helpful  significance.  Death  is  a 
subject  of  universal  concern.  Every  man  must  have 
to  do  with  it ;  and  in  presence  of  it  every  man  feels  his 
helplessness.     Nowhere   do  we  so  come  to  the  limit 


xi.i-44]   JESUS  THE  RESURRECTION  AND  UFE.        363 

and  end  of  our  power  as  at  the  door  of  a  vault ;  nowhere 
is  the  weakness  of  man  so  keenly  felt.  There  is  the 
clay,  but  who  shall  find  the  spirit  that  dwelt  in  it? 
Jesus  has  no  such  sense  of  weakness.  Believing  in 
the  fatherly  and  undying  love  of  the  Eternal  God,  He 
knows  that  death  cannot  harm,  still  less  destroy,  the 
children  of  God.  And  in  this  belief  He  commands 
back  to  the  body  the  soul  of  Lazarus ;  through  the  ear 
of  that  dead  and  laid-aside  body  He  calls  to  His  friend, 
and  bids  him  from  the  unseen  world.  Surely  we  also 
may  say,  with  Himself,  we  are  glad  that  He  was  not 
with  Lazarus  in  his  sickness,  that  we  might  have  this 
proof  that  not  even  death  carries  the  friend  of  Christ 
beyond  His  reach  and  power. 

There  is  no  one  who  can  afford  to  look  at  this  scene 
with  indifference.  We  have  all  to  die,  to  sink  in  utter 
weakness  past  all  strength  of  our  own,  past  all  friendly 
help  of  those  around  us.  It  must  always  remain  a 
trying  thing  to  die.  In  the  time  of  our  health  we  may 
say,— 

•*  Since  Nature's  works  be  good,  and  Death  doth  serve 
As  Nature's  work,  why  should  we  fear  to  die  ?  " 

but  no  argument  should  make  us  indifferent  to  the 
question  whether  at  death  we  are  to  be  extinguished 
or  to  live  on  in  happier,  fuller  life.  If  a  man  dies  in 
thoughtlessness,  with  no  forecasting  or  foreboding  of 
what  is  to  follow,  he  can  give  no  stronger  proof  of 
thoughtlessness.  If  a  man  faces  death  cheerfully 
through  natural  courage,  he  can  furnish  no  stronger 
evidence  of  courage ;  if  he  dies  calmly  and  hopefully 
through  faith,  this  is  faith's  highest  expression.  And 
if  it  is  really  true  that  Jesus  did  raise  Lazarus,  then  a 
world  of  depression  and  fear  and  grief  is  lifted  off  the 
heart   of  man.     That   very  assurance  is  given  to  us 


364  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

which  we  most  of  all  need.  And,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  it 
is  our  own  imbecility  of  mind  that  prevents  us  from 
accepting  this  assurance  and  living  in  the  joy  and 
strength  it  brings.  If  Christ  raised  Lazarus  He  has 
a  power  to  which  we  can  safely  trust;  and  life  is  a 
thing  of  permanence  and  joy.  And  if  a  man  cannot 
determine  for  himself  whether  this  did  actually  happen 
or  not,  he  must,  I  think,  feel  that  the  fault  is  his,  and 
that  he  is  defrauding  himself  of  one  of  the  clearest 
guiding  lights  and  most  powerful  determining  influences 
we  have. 

This  miracle  is  itself  more  significant  than  the 
explanation  of  it.  The  act  which  embodies  and  gives 
actuality  to  a  principle  is  its  best  exposition.  But  the 
main  teaching  of  the  miracle  is  enounced  in  the  words 
of  Jesus:  "I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life."  In 
this  statement  two  truths  are  contained :  (i)  that 
resurrection  and  life  are  not  future  only,  but  present ; 
and  (2)  that  they  become  ours  by  union  with  Christ. 

(l)  Resurrection  and  Life  are  not  blessings  laid  up 
for  us  in  a  remote  future  :  they  are  present.  When 
Jesus  said  to  Martha,  "  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again," 
she  answered,  "  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the 
resurrection  at  the  last  day," — meaning  to  indicate  that 
this  was  small  consolation.  There  was  her  brother 
lying  in  the  tomb  dead,  and  there  he  would  lie  for  ages 
dead ;  no  more  to  move  about  in  the  home  she  loved 
for  his  sake,  no  more  to  exchange  with  her  one  word 
or  look.  What  comfort  did  the  vague  and  remote  hope 
of  reunion  after  long  ages  of  untold  change  bring  ? 
What  comfort  is  to  sustain  her  through  the  interval  ? 
When  parents  lose  the  children  whom  they  could  not 
bear  to  have  for  a  day  out  of  their  sight,  whom  they 
longed  for  if  they  were  absent  an  hour  beyond  their  time, 


ai  1-44.]   JESUS   THE  RESURRECTION  AND  UFE.        365 

it  is  no  doubt  some  comfort  to  know  that  one  day  they 
will  again  fold  them  to  their  breast.  But  this  is  not 
the  comfort  Christ  gives  Martha.  He  comforts  her,  not 
by  pointing  her  to  a  far-off  event  which  was  vague  and 
remote,  but  to  His  own  living  person,  whom  she  knew, 
saw,  and  trusted.  And  He  assured  her  that  in  Him 
were  resurrection  and  life ;  that  all,  therefore,  who 
belonged  to  Him  were  uninjured  by  death,  and  had  in 
Him  a  present  and  continuous  life. 

Christ,  then,  does  not  think  of  immortality  as  we  do. 
The  thought  of  immortality  is  with  Him  involved  in, 
and  absorbed  by,  the  idea  of  life.  Life  is  a  present 
thing,  and  its  continuance  a  matter  of  course.  When 
life  is  full,  and  abundant,  and  glad,  the  present  is 
enough,  and  past  and  future  are  unthought  of.  It  is 
life,  therefore,  rather  than  immortality  Christ  speaks  of; 
a  present,  not  a  future,  good  ;  an  expansion  of  the  nature 
now,  and  which  necessarily  carries  with  it  the  idea  of 
permanence.  Eternal  life  He  defines,  not  as  a  future 
continuance  to  be  measured  by  ages,  but  as  a  present 
life,  to  be  measured  by  its  depth.  It  is  the  quality,  not 
the  length,  of  life  He  looks  at.  Life  prolonged  without 
being  deepened  by  union  with  the  living  God  were  no 
boon.  Life  with  God,  and  in  God,  must  be  immortal; 
life  without  God  He  does  not  call  life  at  all. 

In  evidence  of  this  present  continued  life  Lazarus 
was  called  back,  and  shown  to  be  still  alive.  In  him 
the  truth  of  Christ's  words  was  exemplified  :  "  He  that 
believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead  yet  shall  he  live ; 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me  shall  never 
die."  He  will  doubtless,  like  all  men,  undergo  that 
change  which  we  call  death ;  he  will  become  discon- 
nected from  this  present  earthly  scene,  but  his  Ufe  in 
Christ  will  suffer  no   interruption.      Dissolution   may 


366  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

pass  on  his  body,  but  not  on  his  life.  His  life  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God.  It  is  united  to  the  unfailing  source 
of  all  existence. 

(2)  Such  life,  now  abundant  and  evermore  abiding, 
Christ  affords  to  all  who  believe  in  Him.  To  Martha 
He  intimates  that  He  has  power  to  raise  the  dead,  and 
that  this  power  is  so  much  His  own  that  He  needs  no 
instrument  or  means  to  apply  it ;  that  He  Himself,  as 
He  stood  before  her,  contained  all  that  was  needful  for 
resurrection  and  life.  He  intimates  all  this,  but  He 
intimates  much  more  than  this.  That  He  had  the 
power  to  raise  the  dead  it  would,  no  doubt,  revive  the 
heart  of  Martha  to  hear,  but  what  guarantee,  what  hope, 
was  there  that  He  would  exercise  that  power  ?  And 
so  Christ  does  not  say,  I  have  the  power,  but,  I  am. 
Is  any  one,  is  Lazarus,  joined  to  Me  ?  has  he  attached 
himself  confidingly  to  My  Person :  then  whatever  I  am 
finds  exercise  in  him.  It  is  not  only  that  I  have  this 
power  to  exercise  on  whom  I  may;  but  I  am  this 
power,  so  that  if  he  be  one  with  Me  I  cannot  withhold 
the  exercise  of  that  power  from  him. 

They  who  have  learned  to  obey  Christ's  voice  in  life 
will  most  quickly  hear  it,  and  recognise  its  authority, 
when  they  sleep  in  death.  They  who  have  known  its 
power  to  raise  them  out  of  spiritual  death  will  not  doubt 
its  power  to  raise  them  from  bodily  death  to  a  more 
abundant  life  than  this  world  affords.  They  once  felt 
as  if  nothing  could  deliver  them ;  they  were  dead — deaf 
to  Christ's  commands,  bound  in  bonds  which  they 
thought  would  hold  them  till  they  themselves  should 
rot  away  from  within  them ;  they  were  buried  out  of 
sight  of  all  that  could  give  spiritual  life,  and  the  heavy 
stone  of  their  own  hardened  will  lay  on  their  ruined 
and  outcast  condition.     But  Christ's  love  sought  them 


xi.  1-44.]   JESUS   THE  RESURRECTION  AND  LIFE     367 

out  and  called  them  into  life.  Assured  that  He  has 
had  power  to  do  this,  conscious  in  themselves  that  they 
are  alive  with  a  life  given  by  Christ,  they  cannot  doubt 
that  the  grave  will  be  but  a  bed  of  rest,  and  that  neither 
things  present  nor  things  to  come  can  separate  them 
from  a  love  which  already  has  shown  itself  capable  of 
the  utmost. 


XXIV. 
JESUS   THE   SCAPEGOAT. 


369  24 


**  Many  therefore  of  the  Jews,  which  came  to  Maiy  and  beheld  that 
which  He  did,  believed  on  Him.  But  some  of  them  went  away  to  the 
Pharisees,  and  told  them  the  things  which  Jesus  had  done.  The  chief 
priests  therefore  and  the  Pharisees  gathered  a  council,  and  said,  What 
do  we  ?  for  this  man  doeth  many  signs.  If  we  let  Him  thus  alone,  all 
men  will  believe  on  Him  :  and  the  Romans  will  come  and  take  away 
both  our  place  and  our  nation.  But  a  certain  one  of  them,  Caiaphas, 
being  high  priest  that  year,  said  unto  them.  Ye  know  nothing  at  all, 
nor  do  ye  take  account  that  it  is  expedient  for  you  that  one  man  should 
die  for  the  people,  and  that  the  whole  nation  perish  not.  Now  this 
he  said  not  of  himself :  but  being  high  priest  that  year  he  prophesied 
that  Jesus  should  die  for  the  nation  ;  and  not  for  the  nation  only,  but 
that  he  might  also  gather  together  into  one  the  children  of  God  that  are 
scattered  abroad.  So  from  that  day  forth  they  took  counsel  that  they 
might  put  Him  to  death.  Jesus  therefore  walked  no  more  openly 
among  the  Jews,  but  departed  thence  into  the  country  near  to  the 
wilderness,  into  a  city  called  Ephraim ;  and  there  He  tarried  with  the 
disapleat."— John  zi.  45-54. 


fTO 


XXIV. 

JESUS   THE   SCAPEGOAT. 

WHEN  Jesus  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead  He 
was  quite  aware  that  He  was  risking  His  own 
life.  He  knew  that  a  miracle  so  public,  so  easily 
tested,  so  striking,  could  not  be  overlooked,  but  must 
decisively  separate  between  those  who  yielded  to  what 
was  involved  in  the  miracle,  and  those  who  hardened 
themselves  against  it  It  is  remarkable  that  none  had 
the  hardihood  to  deny  the  fact.  Those  who  most 
determinedly  proceeded  against  Jesus  did  so  on  the 
very  ground  that  His  miracles  were  becoming  too 
numerous  and  too  patent.  They  perceived  that  in  this 
respect  Jesus  answered  so  perfectly  to  the  popular  con- 
ception of  what  the  Messiah  was  to  be,  that  it  was  quite 
likely  He  would  win  the  multitude  to  belief  in  Him  as 
the  long-looked-for  King  of  the  Jews.  But  if  there 
were  any  such  popular  enthusiasm  aroused,  and  loudly 
declared,  then  the  Romans  would  interfere,  and,  as 
they  said,  "come  and  take  away  both  our  place  and 
nation."  They  felt  themselves  in  a  great  difficulty,  and 
looked  upon  Jesus  as  one  of  those  fatal  people  who 
arise  to  thwart  the  schemes  of  statesmen,  and  spoil 
well-laid  plans,  and  introduce  disturbing  elements  into 
peaceful  periods. 

Caiaphas,  astute   juid   unscrupulous,   takes  a  more 
37< 


37«  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

practical  view  of  things,  and  laughs  at  their  helpless- 
ness. "  Why  1 "  he  says,  "  do  you  not  see  that  this 
Man,  with  His  ^clat  and  popular  following,  instead  of 
endangering  us  and  bringing  suspicion  on  our  loyalty 
to  Rome,  is  the  very  person  we  can  use  to  exhibit 
our  fidelity  to  the  Empire.  Sacrifice  Jesus,  and  by 
His  execution  you  will  not  merely  clear  the  nation  of 
all  suspicion  of  a  desire  to  revolt  and  found  a  kingdom 
under  Him,  but  you  will  show  such  a  watchful  zeal 
for  the  integrity  of  the  Empire  as  will  merit  applause 
and  confidence  from  the  jealous  power  of  Rome." 
Caiaphas  is  the  type  of  the  bold,  hard  politician,  who 
fancies  he  sees  more  clearly  than  all  others,  because 
he  does  not  perplex  himself  by  what  lies  below  the 
surface,  nor  suffer  the  claims  of  justice  to  interfere  with 
his  own  advantage.  He  looks  at  everything  from  the 
point  of  view  of  his  own  idea  and  plan,  and  makes 
everything  bend  to  that.  He  had  no  idea  that  in 
making  Jesus  a  scapegoat  he  was  tampering  with  the 
Divine  purposes. 

John,  however,  in  looking  back  upon  this  council, 
sees  that  this  bold,  unflinching  diplomatist,  who  supposed 
he  was  moving  Jesus  and  the  council  and  the  Romans 
as  so  many  pieces  in  his  own  game,  was  himself  used 
as  God's  mouthpiece  to  predict  the  event  which  brought 
to  a  close  his  own  and  all  other  priesthood.  In  the 
strange  irony  of  events  he  was  unconsciously  using 
his  high-priestly  office  to  lead  forward  that  one 
Sacrifice  which  was  for  ever  to  take  away  sin,  and  so 
to  make  all  further  priestly  office  superfluous.  Caiaphas 
saw  and  said  that  it  was  expedient  that  one  man  die 
for  the  nation ;  but,  as  in  all  prophetic  utterance,  so  in 
these  words,  says  John,  a  very  much  deeper  sense  lay 
than  was  revealed  by  their  primary  application*     It  is, 


«*•  45-54-1  JESUS  THE  SCAPEGOAT.  373 

says  John,  quite  true  that  Christ's  death  would  be  the 
saving  of  a  countless  multitude,  only  it  was  not  from 
the  Roman  legions  that  it  would  long  save  men,  but 
from  an  even  more  formidable  visitation.  Caiaphas 
saw  that  the  Romans  were  within  a  very  little  of 
terminating  the  ceaseless  troubles  which  arose  out  of 
this  Judaean  province,  by  transporting  the  inhabitants 
and  breaking  up  their  nationality;  and  he  supposed 
that  by  proclaiming  Jesus  as  an  aspirant  to  the  throne 
and  putting  Him  to  death,  he  would  cleanse  the  nation 
of  all  complicity  in  His  disloyalty  and  stay  the  Roman 
sword.  And  John  says,  that  in  carrying  out  this  idea 
of  his,  he  unwittingly  carried  out  the  purpose  of  God 
that  Jesus  should  die  for  that  nation — "  and  not  for  that 
nation  only,  but  that  also  He  should  gather  together  in 
one  the  children  of  God  that  were  scattered  abroad." 

Now  it  must  be  owned  that  it  is  much  easier  to 
understand  what  Caiaphas  meant  than  what  John 
meant ;  much  easier  to  see  how  fit  Jesus  was  to  be  a 
national  scapegoat  than  to  understand  how  His  death 
removes  the  sin  of  the  world.  There  are,  however,  one 
or  two  points  regarding  the  death  of  Christ  which 
become  clearer  in  the  light  of  Caiaphas's  idea. 

First,  the  very  characteristics  of  Christ  which  made 
Caiaphas  think  of  Him  as  a  possible  scapegoat  for  the 
nation,  are  those  which  make  it  possible  that  His  death 
should  serve  a  still  larger  purpose.  When  the  brilliant, 
idea  of  propitiating  the  Roman  government  by  sacri- 
ficing Jesus  flashed  into  the  mind  of  Caiaphas,  he  saw 
that  Jesus  was  in  every  respect  suited  to  this  purpose. 
He  was  in  the  first  place  a  person  of  sufficient  import- 
ance. To  have  seized  an  unknown  peasant,  who  never 
had,  and  never  could  have,  much  influence  in  Jewish 
society,  would  have  been  no  proof  of  zeal  in  extinguish- 


374  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

ing  rebellion.  To  crucify  Peter  or  John  or  Lazarus, 
none  of  whom  had  made  the  most  distant  claim  to 
kingship,  would  not  serve  Caiaphas's  turn.  But  Jesus 
was  the  head  of  a  party.  In  disposing  of  Him  they 
disposed  of  His  followers.  The  sheep  must  scatter, 
if  the  Shepherd  were  put  out  of  the  way. 

Then,  again,  Jesus  was  innocent  of  everything  but 
this.  He  was  guilty  of  attaching  men  to  Himself,  but 
innocent  of  everything  besides.  This  also  fitted  Him 
for  Caiaphas's  purpose,  for  the  high  priest  recognised 
that  it  would  not  do  to  pick  a  common  criminal  out 
of  the  prisons  and  make  a  scapegoat  of  him.  That 
had  been  a  shallow  fiction,  which  would  not  for  a  moment 
stay  the  impending  Roman  sword.  Had  the  Russians 
wished  to  conciliate  our  Government  and  avert  war, 
this  could  not  have  been  effected  by  their  selecting  for 
execution  some  political  exile  in  Siberia,  but  only  by 
recalling  and  degrading  such  an  outstanding  person  as 
General  Komaroft.  In  every  case  where  any  one  is 
to  be  used  as  a  scapegoat  these  two  qualities  must 
meet — he  must  be  a  really,  not  fictitiously,  representative 
person,  and  he  must  be  free  from  all  other  claims  upon 
his  life.  It  is  not  everyone  who  can  become  a  scape- 
goat. The  mere  agreement  between  the  parties,  that 
such  and  such  a  person  be  a  scapegoat,  is  only  a  hollow 
fiction  which  can  deceive  no  one.  There  must  be 
underlying  qualities  which  constitute  one  person,  and 
not  another,  representative  and  fit. 

Now  John  does  not  expressly  say  that  the  deliver- 
ance Jesus  was  to  effect  for  men  generally  was  to  be 
effected  in  a  similar  manner  to  that  which  Caiaphas 
had  in  view.  He  does  not  expressly  say  that  Jesus 
was  to  become  the  scapegoat  of  the  race :  but  impreg- 
nated as  John's  mind  was  with  the  sacrificial  ideas  in 


«i-4S-S4-]  JESUS  THE  SCAPEGOAT.  37$ 

which  he  had  been  nurtured,  the  probability  is  that  the 
words  of  Caiaphas  suggested  to  him  the  idea  that  Jesus 
was  to  be  the  scapegoat  of  the  race.  And,  certainly,  if 
Jesus  was  the  scapegoat  on  whom  our  sins  were  laid, 
and  who  carried  them  all  away,  He  had  these  qualities 
which  fitted  Him  for  this  work :  He  had  a  connection 
with  us  of  an  intimate  kind,  and  He  was  stainlessly 
innocent. 

This  passage  then  compels  us  to  ask  in  what  sense 
Christ  was  our  sacrifice. 

With  remarkable,  because  significant,  unanimity  the 
consciences  of  men  very  differently  situated  have 
prompted  them  to  sacrifice.  And  the  idea  which  all 
ancient  nations,  and  especially  the  Hebrews,  entertained 
regarding  sacrifice  is  fairly  well  ascertained.  Both  the 
forms  of  their  rites  and  their  explicit  statements  are 
conclusive  on  this  point, — that  in  a  certain  class  of 
sacrifices  they  looked  on  the  victim  as  a  substitute 
bearing  the  guilt  of  the  offerer  and  receiving  the  punish- 
ment due  to  him.  This  seems,  after  all  discussion,  to 
be  the  most  reasonable  interpretation  to  put  upon 
expiatory  sacrifice.  Both  heathens  and  Jews  teach 
that  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remis- 
sion of  sins ;  that  the  life  of  the  sinner  is  forfeited, 
and  that  in  order  to  the  sparing  of  his  life,  another 
life  is  rendered  instead ;  and  that  as  the  life  is  in 
the  blood,  the  blood  must  be  poured  out  in  sacrifice. 
Heathens  were  as  punctilious  as  Hebrews  in  their 
scrutiny  of  the  victims,  to  ascertain  what  animals  were 
fit  for  sacrifice  by  the  absence  of  all  blemish.  They 
used  forms  of  deprecation  as  exactly  expressing  the 
doctrines  of  substitution  and  of  atonement  by  vicari- 
ous punishment.  In  one  significant,  though  repulsive, 
particular  some  of  the  heathen  went  farther  than  the 


376  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


Hebrews  :  occasionally,  the  sinner  who  sought  cleansing 
from  defilement  was  actually  washed  in  the  blood  of 
the  victim  slain  for  him.  By  an  elaborate  contrivance 
the  sinner  sat  under  a  stage  of  open  woodwork  on 
which  the  animal  was  sacrificed,  and  through  which 
its  blood  poured  upon  him. 

The  idea  expressed  by  all  sacrifices  of  expiation  was, 
that  the  victim  took  the  place  of  the  sinner,  and  received 
the  punishment  due  to  him.  The  sacrifice  was  an 
acknowledgment  on  the  sinner's  part  that  by  his  sin 
he  had  incurred  penalty;  and  it  was  a  prayer  on  the 
sinner's  part  that  he  might  be  washed  from  the  guilt 
he  had  contracted,  and  might  return  to  life  with  the 
blessing  and  favour  of  God  upon  him.  Of  course,  it 
was  seen,  and  said  by  the  heathen  themselves,  as  well 
as  by  the  Jews,  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  had 
in  itself  no  relation  to  moral  defilement.  It  was  used 
in  sacrifice  merely  as  a  telling  way  of  saying  that  sin 
was  acknowledged  and  pardon  desired,  but  always 
with  the  idea  of  substitution  more  or  less  explicitly 
in  the  mind.  And  the  ideas  which  were  inevitably 
associated  with  sacrifice  were  transferred  to  Jesus  by 
His  immediate  disciples.  And  this  transference  of  the 
ideas  connected  with  sacrifice  to  Himself  and  His 
death  was  sanctioned — and  indeed  suggested — by  Jesus, 
when,  at  the  Last  Supper,  He  said,  "  This  cup  is  the 
New  Testament  in  My  Blood,  which  is  shed  for  many, 
for  the  remission  of  sins." 

But  here  the  question  at  once  arises :  In  what  sense 
was  the  Blood  of  Christ  shed  for  the  remission  of  sins  ? 
In  what  sense  was  He  a  substitute  and  victim  for  us  ? 
Before  we  try  to  find  an  answer  to  this  question,  two 
preliminary  remarks  may  be  made — first,  that  our 
salvation  depends  not  on  our  understanding  how  the 


«J-45-S4.]  JESUS  THE  SCAPEGOAT.  377 

death  of  Christ  takes  away  sin,  but  upon  our  believing 
that  it  does  so.  It  is  very  possible  to  accept  the 
pardon  of  our  sin,  though  we  do  not  know  how  that 
pardon  has  been  obtained.  We  do  not  understand  the 
methods  of  cure  prescribed  by  the  physician,  nor  could 
we  give  a  rational  account  of  the  efficacy  of  his  medicines, 
but  this  does  not  retard  our  cure  if  only  we  use  them. 
To  come  into  a  perfect  relation  to  God  we  do  not 
require  to  understand  how  the  death  of  Christ  has 
made  it  possible  for  us  to  do  so ;  we  need  only  to 
desire  to  be  God's  children,  and  to  believe  that  it  is 
open  to  us  to  come  to  Him.  Not  by  the  intellect,  but 
by  the  will,  are  we  led  to  God.  Not  by  what  we  know, 
but  by  what  we  desire,  is  our  destiny  determined.  Not 
by  education  in  theological  requirements,  but  by  thirst 
for  the  living  God,  is  man  saved. 

And,  second,  even  though  we  carry  over  to  the  death 
of  Christ  the  ideas  taught  by  Old  Testament  sacrifice, 
we  commit  no  enormous  or  misleading  blunder. 
Christ  Himself  suggested  that  .  His  death  might  be 
best  understood  in  the  light  of  these  ideas,  and  even 
though  we  are  unable  to  penetrate  through  the  letter  to 
the  spirit,  through  the  outward  and  symbolic  form  to 
the  real  and  eternal  meaning  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ, 
we  are  yet  on  the  road  to  truth,  and  hold  the  germ  of  it 
which  will  one  day  develop  into  the  actual  and  perfect 
truth.  Impatience  is  at  the  root  of  much  unbelief  and 
misconception  and  discontent ;  the  inability  to  reconcile 
ourselves  to  the  fact  that  in  our  present  stage  there  is 
much  we  must  hold  provisionally,  much  we  must  be 
content  to  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  much  we  can 
only  know  by  picture  and  shadow.  It  is  quite  true  the 
reality  has  come  in  the  death  of  Christ,  and  symbol  has 
passed  away ;  but  there  is  such  a  depth  of  Divine  love, 


371  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

and  so  various  a  fulfilment  of  Divine  purpose  in  the 
death  of  Christ,  that  we  cannot  be  surprised  that  it 
baffles  comprehension.  It  is  the  key  to  a  world's 
history;  for  aught  we  know,  to  the  history  of  other 
worlds  than  ours ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  we  should  be 
able  to  gauge  its  significance  and  explain  its  rationale 
of  operation.  And  therefore,  if,  without  any  sluggish 
indiflFerence  to  further  knowledge,  or  merely  worldly 
contentment  to  know  of  spiritual  things  only  so  much 
as  is  absolutely  necessary,  we  yet  are  able  to  use  what 
we  do  know  and  to  await  with  confidence  further 
knowledge,  we  probably  act  wisely  and  well.  We  do 
not  err  if  we  think  of  Christ  as  our  Sacrifice ;  nor  even 
if  we  somewhat  too  literally  think  of  Him  as  the  Victim 
substituted  for  us,  and  ascribe  to  His  Blood  the  expi- 
atory and  cleansing  virtue  which  belonged  symbolically 
to  the  blood  of  the  ancient  sacrifices. 

And,  indeed,  there  are  grave  diflSculties  in  our  path 
as  soon  as  we  strive  to  advance  beyond  the  sacrificial 
idea,  and  try  to  grasp  the  very  truth  regarding  the 
death  of  Christ.  The  Apostles  with  one  voice  affirm 
that  Christ's  death  was  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of 
the  world :  that  He  died  for  us ;  that  He  suffered  not 
only  for  His  contemporaries,  but  for  all  men  ;  that  He 
was  the  Lamb  of  God,  the  innocent  Victim,  whose  blood 
cleansed  from  sin.  They  affirm,  in  short,  that  in 
Christ's  death  we  are  brought  face  to  face,  not  with  a 
symbolic  sacrifice,  but  with  that  act  which  really  takes 
away  sin. 

If  we  read  the  narrative  given  us  in  the  Gospels  of 
the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  circumstances  that  led  to 
it,  we  see  that  the  sacrificial  idea  is  not  kept  in  the 
foreground.  The  cause  of  His  death,  as  explained  in 
the  Gospel^  was  His  persistent  claim  to  be  the  Messiah 


*i-4S-54-l  JESUS   THE  SCAPEGOAT.  37« 

sent  by  God  to  found  a  spiritual  kingdom.  He  steadily 
opposed  the  expectations  and  plans  of  those  in  authority 
until  they  became  so  exasperated  that  they  resolved  to 
compass  His  death.  The  real  and  actual  cause  of  Hia 
death  was  His  fidelity  to  the  purpose  for  which  He 
had  been  sent  into  the  world.  He  might  have  retired 
and  lived  a  quiet  life  in  Galilee  or  beyond  Palestine 
altogether ;  but  He  could  not  do  so,  because  He  could 
not  abandon  the  work  of  His  life,  which  was  to  proclaim 
the  truth  about  God  and  God's  kingdom.  Many  a  man 
has  felt  equally  constrained  to  proclaim  the  truth  in  the 
face  of  opposition ;  and  many  a  man  has,  like  Jesus, 
incurred  death  thereby.  That  which  makes  the  death 
of  Jesus  exceptional  in  this  aspect  of  it  is,  that  the 
truth  He  proclaimed  was  what  may  be  called  ike  truth, 
the  essential  truth  for  men  to  know — the  truth  that  God 
is  the  Father,  and  that  there  is  life  in  Him  for  all  who 
will  come  to  Him.  This  was  the  kingdom  of  God 
among  men — He  proclaimed  a  kingdom  based  only  on 
love,  on  spiritual  union  between  God  and  man;  a 
kingdom  not  of  this  world,  and  that  came  not  with 
observation ;  a  kingdom  within  men,  real,  abiding, 
universal.  It  was  because  He  proclaimed  this  king- 
dom, exploding  the  cherished  expectations  and  merely 
national  hopes  of  the  Jews,  that  the  authorities  put 
Him  to  death. 

So  much  is  obvious  on  the  very  face  of  the  narrative. 
No  one  can  read  the  life  of  Christ  without  perceiving 
this  at  least — that  He  was  put  to  death  because  He 
persisted  in  proclaiming  truths  essential  to  the  happi- 
ness and  salvation  of  men.  By  submitting  to  death  for 
the  sake  of  these  truths  He  made  it  for  ever  clear  that 
they  are  of  vital  consequence.  Before  Pilate  He  calnily 
said,  "  To  this  end  was  I  born   and  for  this  cause  came 


38o  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the 
truth."  He  knew  that  it  was  this  witnessing  to  the 
truth  that  had  enraged  the  Jews  against  Him,  and 
even  in  prospect  of  death  He  could  not  refrain  from 
proclaiming  what  He  felt  it  was  vital  for  men  to  know. 
In  this  very  true  sense,  therefore,  He  died  for  our 
sakes — died  because  He  sought  to  put  us  in  possession 
of  truths  without  which  our  souls  cannot  be  lifted  into 
life  eternal.  He  has  given  us  life  by  giving  us  the 
knowledge  of  the  Father,  His  love  for  us,  His  cease- 
less and  strong  desire  to  bring  us  near  to  God,  was  the 
real  cause  of  His  death.  And,  recognising  this,  we 
cannot  but  feel  that  He  has  a  claim  upon  us  of  the 
most  commanding  kind.  Not  for  His  contemporaries 
alone,  not  for  one  section  of  men  only,  did  Christ  die, 
but  for  all  men,  because  the  truths  which  He  sealed 
by  His  death  are  of  universal  import.  No  man  can 
live  eternal  life  without  them. 

But  again,  Jesus  Himself  explained  to  His  disciples 
in  what  sense  His  death  would  benefit  them.  "  It  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away,  for  if  I  go  not  away 
the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you."  The  spiritual 
kingdom  He  proclaimed  could  not  be  established  while 
He  was  visibly  present.  His  death  and  ascension  put 
an  end  to  all  hopes  that  diverted  their  minds  from  that 
which  constituted  their  real  union  to  God  and  satisfac- 
tion in  Him.  When  He  disappeared  from  earth  and 
sent  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them,  what  remained  to  them 
was  God's  kingdom  within  them.  His  true  rule  over 
their  spirits,  their  assimilation  to  Him  in  all  things. 
What  they  now  clearly  saw  to  be  still  open  to  them 
was  to  live  in  Christ's  spirit,  to  revive  in  their  memories 
the  truths  His  life  had  proclaimed,  to  submit  themselves 
entirely  to  His  influence,  and  to  make  known  far  and 


«».4S-S4-]  JESUS  THE  SCAPEGOAT  381 

near  the  ideas  He  had  communicated  to  them,  and 
especially  the  God  He  had  revealed.  It  was  His  death 
which  set  their  minds  free  from  all  other  expectations 
and  fixed  them  exclusively  on  what  was  spiritual. 
And  this  salvation  they  at  once  proclaimed  to  others. 
What  were  they  to  say  about  Jesus  and  His  death  ? 
How  were  they  to  win  men  to  Him  ?  They  did  so  in 
the  first  days  by  proclaiming  Him  as  raised  by  God 
to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  rule  from  the  unseen 
world,  to  bless  men  with  a  spiritual  salvation,  by  turn- 
ing them  from  their  iniquities.  And  the  instrumen- 
tality, the  actual  spiritual  experience  through  which 
this  salvation  is  arrived  at  is  the  belief  that  Jesus 
was  sent  by  God  and  did  reveal  Him,  that  in  Jesus 
God  was  present  revealing  Himself,  and  that  His  Spirit 
can  bring  us  also  to  God  and  to  His  likeness. 

Still  further,  and  not  going  beyond  the  facts  apparent 
in  the  Gospel,  it  is  plain  that  Christ  died  for  us,  in  the 
sense  that  all  He  did,  His  whole  life  on  earth  from 
first  to  last,  was  for  our  sake.  .  He  came  into  the  world, 
not  to  serve  a  purpose  of  His  own,  and  forward  His 
own  interests,  but  to  further  ours.  He  took  upon  Him 
our  sins  and  their  punishment  in  this  obvious  sense, 
that  He  voluntarily  entered  into  our  life,  polluted  as  it 
was  all  through  with  sin  and  laden  with  misery  in 
every  part.  Our  condition  in  this  world  is  such  that 
no  person  can  avoid  coming  in  contact  with  sin,  or 
can  escape  entirely  the  results  of  sin  in  the  world. 
And  in  point  of  fact  persons  with  any  depth  of  sympathy 
and  spiritual  sensibility  cannot  help  taking  upon  them 
the  sins  of  others,  and  cannot  help  suffering  their  own 
life  to  be  greatly  marred  and  limited  by  the  sins  of 
others.  In  the  case  of  our  Lord  this  acceptance  of  the 
burden  of  other  men's   sins  was   voluntary.     And  it 


X6i  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

is  the  sight  of  a  holy  and  loving  person,  enduring 
sorrows  and  opposition  and  death  wholly  undeserved, 
that  is  at  all  times  affecting  in  the  experience  of  Christ. 
It  is  the  sight  of  this  suffering,  borne  with  meekness 
and  borne  willingly,  that  makes  us  ashamed  of  our 
sinful  condition,  which  inevitably  entails  such  suffering 
on  the  self-sacrificing  and  holy.  It  enables  us  to  see, 
more  distinctly  than  anything  besides,  the  essential 
hatefulness  and  evil  of  sin.  Here  is  an  innocent  per- 
son, filled  with  love  and  compassion  for  all.  His  life 
a  life  of  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  to  human  interests, 
carrying  in  His  person  infinite  benefits  to  the  race — 
this  person  is  at  all  points  thwarted  and  persecuted  and 
finally  put  to  death.  In  this  most  intelligible  sense 
He  very  truly  sacrificed  Himself  for  us,  bore  the 
penalty  of  our  sins,  magnified  the  law,  illustrated  and 
rendered  infinitely  impressive  the  righteousness  of  God, 
and  made  it  possible  for  God  to  pardon  us,  and  in 
pardoning  us  to  deepen  immeasurably  our  regard  for 
holiness  and  for  Himself. 

Still  further,  it  is  obvious  that  Christ  gave  Himself 
a  perfect  sacrifice  to  God  by  living  solely  for  Him.  He 
had  in  life  no  other  purpose  than  to  serve  God.  Again 
and  again  during  His  life  God  expressed  His  perfect 
satisfaction  with  the  human  life  of  Christ.  He  who 
searches  the  heart  saw  that  into  the  most  secret  thought, 
down  to  the  most  hidden  motive,  that  life  was  pure, 
that  heart  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  Divine  will 
Christ  lived  not  for  Himself^  He  did  not  claim  property 
in  His  own  person  and  life,  but  gave  Himself  up  freely 
and  to  the  uttermost  to  God '.  more  thoroughly,  more 
spontaneously,  and  with  an  infinitely  richer  material 
did  He  offer  Himself  to  God  than  ever  burnt-offering 
had  been  offered.     And  God,  with  an  infinite  joy  in 


«i. 45-54.)  JESUS  THE  SCAPEGOAT.  383 

goodness,  accepted  the  sacrifice,  and  found  on  earth  in 
the  person  of  Jesus  an  opportunity  for  rejoicing  in 
man  with  an  infinite  satisfaction. 

And  this  sacrifice  which  Christ  offered  to  God  tends 
to  reproduce  itself  continually  among  men.  As  Christ 
said,  no  sooner  was  He  lifted  up  than  He  drew  all 
men  to  Him.  That  perfect  life  and  utter  self-surrender 
to  the  highest  purposes,  that  pure  and  perfect  love 
and  devotion  to  God  and  man,  commands  the  admiration 
and  cordial  worship  of  serious  men.  It  stands  in  the 
world  for  ever  as  the  grand  incentive  to  goodness, 
prompting  men  and  inspiring  them  to  sympathy  and 
imitation.  It  is  in  the  strength  of  that  perfect  sacrifice 
men  have  ceaselessly  striven  to  sacrifice  themselves. 
It  is  through  Christ  they  strive  to  come  themselves  to 
God.  In  Him  we  see  the  beauty  of  holiness ;  in  Him 
we  see  holiness  perfected,  and  making  the  impression 
upon  us  which  a  perfect  thing  makes,  standing  as  a 
reality,  not  as  a  theory;  as  a  finished  and  victorious 
achievement,  not  as  a  mere  attempt.  In  Christ  we  see 
what  love  to  God  and  faith  in  God  really  are ;  in  Him 
we  see  what  a  true  sacrifice  is  and  means ;  and  in 
Him  we  are  drawn  to  give  ourselves  also  to  God  as 
our  true  life. 

Looking  then  only  at  those  facts  which  are  apparent 
to  every  one  who  reads  the  life  of  Christ,  and  putting 
aside  all  that  may  over  and  above  these  facts  have 
been  intended  in  the  Divine  mind,  we  see  how  truly 
Christ  is  our  Sacrifice ;  and  how  truly  we  can  say  of 
Him  that  He  gave  Himself,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that 
He  might  bring  us  to  God.  We  see  that  in  the  actual 
privations,  disappointments,  temptations,  mental  strain, 
opposition,  and  suffering  of  His  life,  and  in  the  final 
conflict  of  death,   He  bore  the  penalty  of  our   sins; 


384  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

underwent  the  miseries  which  sin  has  brought  into 
human  life.  We  see  that  He  did  so  with  so  entire  and 
perfect  a  consent  to  all  God's  will,  and  with  so  ready 
and  unreserved  a  sacrifice  of  Himself,  that  God  found 
infinite  satisfaction  in  this  human  obedience  and  righ- 
teousness, and  on  the  basis  of  this  sacrifice  pardons  us. 
Some  may  be  able  to  assure  themselves  better  of 
the  forgiveness  of  God,  if  they  look  at  what  Christ  has 
done  as  a  satisfaction  for  or  reparation  of  the  ill  that 
we  have  done.  He  properly  satisfies  for  an  offence 
who  offers  to  the  offended  party  that  which  he  loves 
as  well  or  better  than  he  hates  the  offence.  If  your 
child  has  through  carelessness  broken  or  spoiled  some- 
thing you  value,  but  seeing  your  displeasure  is  at  pains 
to  replace  it,  and  does  after  long  industry  put  into  your 
hands  an  article  of  greater  value  than  was  lost  to  you, 
you  are  satisfied,  and  more  than  forgive  your  child.  If 
a  man  fails  in  business,  but  after  spending  a  life-time 
to  recover  himself  restores  to  you  not  only  what  you 
lost  by  him,  but  more  than  could  possibly  have  been 
made  by  yourself  with  the  original  sum  lost,  you  ought 
to  be  satisfied.  And  Ck>d  is  satisfied  with  the  work  of 
Christ  because  there  is  in  it  a  love  and  an  obedience  to 
Him,  and  a  regard  to  right  and  holiness,  that  outweigh 
all  our  disobedience  and  alienation.  Often,  when  some 
satisfaction  or  repHration  of  injury  or  loss  is  made 
to  ourselves,  it  is  done  in  so  good-hearted  a  manner, 
and  displays  so  much  right  feeling,  and  sets  us  on 
terms  of  so  much  closer  intimacy  with  the  party  who 
injured  us,  that  we  are  really  glad,  now  that  all  is  over, 
that  the  misunderstanding  or  injury  took  place.  The 
satisfaction  has  far  more  than  atoned  for  it.  So  is  it 
with  God :  our  reconciliation  to  Him  has  called  out  so 
nucb  ia  Christ  that  would  otherwise  have  been  hidden, 


«*•  45-54-1  JESUS  THE  SCAPEGOAT.  385 

has  so  stirred  the  deepest  part,  if  we  may  say  so,  of 
the  Divine  nature  in  Christ,  and  has  called  out  also  so 
signally  the  whole  strength  and  beauty  of  human  nature, 
that  God  is  more  than  satisfied.  We  cannot  see  how 
without  sin  there  could  have  been  that  display  of  love 
and  obedience  that  there  has  been  in  the  death  of 
Christ.  Where  there  is  no  danger,  nothing  tragic, 
there  can  be  no  heroism  :  human  nature,  not  to  speak 
of  Divine,  has  not  scope  for  its  best  parts  in  the 
ordinary  and  innocent  traffic  and  calm  of  life.  It  is 
when  danger  thickens,  and  when  death  draws  near  and 
bares  his  hideous  visage,  that  devotion  and  self-sacrifice 
can  be  exercised.  And  so,  in  a  world  filled  with  sin 
and  with  danger,  a  world  in  which  each  individual's 
history  has  something  stirring  and  tragic  in  it,  God 
finds  room  for  the  full  testing  and  utterance  of  our 
natures  and  of  His  own.  And  in  the  redemption  of 
this  world  there  occurred  an  emergency  which  called 
forth,  as  nothing  else  conceivably  could  call  forth, 
everything  that  the  Divine  and  human  natures  of 
Christ  are  capable  of. 

Another  result  of  Christ's  death  is  mentioned  by 
John :  "  That  the  children  of  God  which  were  scattered 
abroad  might  be  gathered  together  in  one."  It  was  for 
a  unity  Christ  died,  for  that  which  formed  one  whole. 
When  Caiaphas  sacrificed  Christ  to  propitiate  Rome, 
he  knew  that  none  but  Christ's  own  countrymen  would 
benefit  thereby.  The  Romans  would  not  recall  their 
legions  from  Africa  or  Germany  because  Judaea  had 
propitiated  them.  And  supposing  that  the  Jews  had 
received  some  immunities  and  privileges  from  Rome 
as  an  acknowledgment  of  its  favour,  this  would  afifect 
no  other  nation.  But  if  any  members  of  other  nations 
coveted  these  privileges,  their  only  course  would  be  to 

25 


386  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

become  naturalized  Jews,  members  and  subjects  of  the 
favoured  community.  So  Christ's  death  has  the  effect 
of  gathering  into  one  all  those  who  seek  God's  favour 
and  fatherhood,  no  matter  in  what  ends  of  the  earth 
they  be  scattered.  It  was  not  for  separate  individuals 
Christ  died,  but  for  a  people,  for  an  indivisible  com- 
munity ;  and  we  receive  the  benefits  of  His  death  no 
otherwise  than  as  we  are  members  of  this  people  or 
family.  It  is  the  attractive  power  of  Christ  that  draws 
us  all  to  one  centre,  but  being  gathered  round  Him 
we  should  be  in  spirit  and  are  in  fact  as  close  to  one 
another  as  to  Him. 


NOTE  ON  CHAP.  VI.,  Vers.  37,  44,  45- 

Three  terms  are  used  in  these  verses  which  call  for 
examination, — "  giving,"  "  drawing,"  "  teaching."  The 
two  latter  are  used  in  a  connection  which  leaves  little 
room  for  doubt  as  to  their  meaning.  "No  man  can 
come  to  Me,  except  the  Father  which  hath  sent  Me 
draw  him.  ...  It  is  written  in  the  prophets.  And  they 
shall  be  all  taught  of  God.  Every  man,  therefore,  that 
hath  heard  and  hath  learned  of  the  Father,  cometh 
unto  Me ; "  but,  by  implication,  no  man  who  has  not  so 
learned.  Both  verses  express  the  thought  that  without 
special  aid  from  God  no  man  can  come  to  Christ. 
There  must  be  a  Divine  illumination  of  the  human 
faculties,  enabUng  the  man  to  apprehend  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  and  to  receive  Him  as  such.  These  expres- 
sions cannot  refer  to  the  outward  illumination  which  is 
communicated  by  Scripture,  by  the  miracles  of  Christ, 
and  so  forth  ;  because  the  whole  of  the  crowd  addressed 
by  our  Lord  had  such  illumination,  and  yet  not  all 
of  them  were  "  taught  of  God."  The  "  hearing,"  and 
"  learning,"  or  "  being  taught  of  God,"  here  spoken  of, 
must  signify  the  opening  of  the  inner  ear  by  the  unseen 
operation  of  God  Himself.  Most  emphatically  does 
Jesus  affirm  that  without  this  exercise  of  the  Divine 
will  and  Divine  power  upon  the  individual  no  man  can 
receive  Him.  The  mere  manifestation  of  God  in  the 
flesh  is  not  enough :  an  inward  and  special  enlighten- 

387 


9S8  NOTE. 

ment  is  required  to  enable  a  man  to  recognise  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh.  The  words,  then,  of  ver.  44  can 
only  mean  that  in  order  to  apprehend  the  significance 
of  Christ  and  to  yield  ourselves  to  Him  we  must  be 
aided  individually  and  inwardly  by  God. 

Whether  the  "  giving  "  of  ver.  37  is  intended  to  signify 
an  act  prior  to  the  teaching  and  drawing  may  reasonably 
be  doubted.  It  is  prior  to  the  "  coming  "  to  Christ,  as 
the  terms  of  the  verse  prove :  "  All  that  the  Father 
giveth  Me  shall  come  to  Me  :  and  him  that  cometh  to 
Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  Principal  Reynolds 
says  it  is  "the  present  activity  of  the  Father's  grace 
that  is  meant,  not  a  foregone  conclusion."  No  doubt 
that  is  in  strictness  true.  Our  Lord,  in  the  face  of 
general  unbelief,  is  comforting  Himself  with  the  assur- 
ance that  after  all  He  will  draw  to  Himself  all  whom  the 
Father  gives  Him ;  and  this  implies  that  the  Father's 
giving  is  the  main  factor  in  His  success. 


'^R  13 


'£Z 


MOin  TY 


Date  Due 


Ml  \  ^'^' 


mrrrmh^ 


BS491 


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00057  4030 


if). 


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